


Oh, yes! It IS good to be bad!

by KC_darling



Category: Andrea Riseborough, Benedict Cumberbatch - Fandom, James McAvoy - Fandom, Michael Fassbender - Fandom, Tom Hiddleston - Fandom
Genre: 50 shades of Hiddles, AU, BDSM elements, Corruption, Crime, Emotional Hurt, F/M, Heartbreak, Jaguar!Tom - Freeform, Love, Mention of abuse, Non-Consensual Spanking, Rage, Rough Sex, Suicide Attempt, Villain!Tom, Violence, agents!McAvoy and Fassbender, eventually smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-23
Updated: 2016-07-17
Packaged: 2018-05-15 17:23:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 23
Words: 127,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5793355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KC_darling/pseuds/KC_darling
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tom Hiddleston is boss of an international criminal organisation. His crimes reaching from drug dealings to prostitution.<br/>But some agents are onto him. A dangerous game begins. <br/>(Tom's kind of lot more Loki in this than I initially intended...)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Betrayal

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a fic with loads of different characters. I didn't want to invent names so you all have a clear idea how the characters look.  
> None of this has anything to do with the real people...

 

He made his way through the streets of London in his new black Jaguar driving way too fast - as usually. So far they had stopped him only once but he never got a ticket. Let’s just say he knew the right people.  
Normally he was speeding simply because he liked driving fast and obviously because he could. Today, however, he did because he was angry, well not just angry but full of rage. And you didn't want to get into his way when he was like that.  
Why was he full of rage? Basically because he had been betrayed. But what made the betrayal even worse was that he had fallen in love with the person who betrayed and thus broke his heart. He had found out almost three weeks ago and tonight he would see her again for the first time since they had hauled her out of his office, put her in the boot of a car in the secret underground car park and brought her away.  
He knew the police, MI6, Europol and whoever else was after him. He would be an utter fool to believe they were not. But that they've brought someone in and placed him, well her in that case, so close to him... His right hand Damian had questioned her but she refused to say a word, maybe he could make her talk. He always managed to make them talk.  
He had waited so long because if he had gone to see her earlier he on one hand would have probably killed her right away and on the other hand he knew he was being watched by her "employer", a guy called Fassbender. He had never met him before but knew from his insider that he was a tough one, a bloodhound.

***

She had been spying on him for at least a year according to Mark.  
About three weeks ago he had by chance seen her name on Fassbender's desk on a payroll and had done some research. When he had been sure he had called him - on a safe line obviously.  
"Hi boss, it's Strong."  
"Hi. If it's not important then call later. I'm busy." Well he was; burried to the hilt in Elisabeth's, the traitor's, cunt.  
"I don't think this can wait. I've found someone of your closest people on a Scotland Yard payroll."  
"What?!" He shouted in anger, her eyes looking at him in shock because of his tone. If she hadn't been trapped on his office desk she would probably had run. Because she knew when he was in that mood he wasn't to be taken easy.  
"Yeah, I've checked. The first payment was a bit over a year ago. Was kept top secret, I only got to it because I've just been to Fassbender's office and saw her name."  
Her? Already then he somehow knew who it was. Nevertheless he asked "Who is it?"  
"Your secretary, that Elisabeth Olsen."  
"Are you sure?"  
"Yes, absolutely. The account the money goes in has the same address as the one you pay her."  
"Okay. Thanks." Cold and short, he already felt his rage building when he hung up.  
She had looked at him innocently and asked "What is it sweetheart?"  
Clenching his jaw he started ramming into her as hard as he could. How could he have fallen in love with her? He never fell in love, never. Except for his very first love but just like Lizzy she had broken his heart. That's why he treated women normally as mere fuck toys. No dates, no flowers, no sleeping in the same bed, none of this bullshit. And as it had proofed now again, it was right!  
He grabbed her throat cutting off her air and fucking her even harder.  
She liked it hard but she sensed that something was off.  
After he had made her come and came himself, he pulled out flipped her over onto her front fixing his pants. He pressed a button on his phone.  
"Yes, boss what's up?"  
"I need you in my office, now. And bring the two Chrises."  
She tried to get up but he pressed her down again. "Tom? What's going on?"  
"I don't know. Why don't you tell me?"

The door flew open and the three men entered. She always had hated his two "bodyguards", it never meant anything good when they were around.  
Damian came a few steps closer to them. "What is it Tom?" He looked a bit confused as he saw Tom standing behind his, well, girlfriend basically.  
"We've got a traitor, a cuckoo. Spying for the Yard!"  
"What?! Who?"  
Then she knew it, someone had given her away. She couldn't see his face but as their eyes went to her she could be 100 percent sure.  
In the coldest tone she had ever heard from him he said "Bring her away! And let nobody see you with her. She didn't show up for work today. Bring her to Julie's. Tell her to keep her locked away till she hears something else."  
She had no idea what that meant but what she had heard from Michael her lover had no scruple to kill people.  
So far, however, she hadn't seen that side of him, until now. The sex had first just been for fun but she had fallen for his charm and the sex wasn't bad either - quite the opposite really. Then that guy from Scotland Yard had approached her and she thought it was easy money. She tried to get closer to the Tom who brought her flowers once every week and had given her a very expensive necklace for her birthday.  
"Tom. Please. Let me explain..."  
He practically tore her to her feet spun her around and slapped her across the face, his eyes full of hate and disgust. Hadn't Damian come around the desk she thought he probably had killed her right then and there.  
The two Chrises had come over as well, gagged and cuffed her, then brought her struggling body away. He slumped down onto his chair fighting the tears in his eyes.

***

He was almost there, not sure if he was ready to see her again. After they had brought her away he had spent almost a whole week locked up in his penthouse apartment, trying to piece his broken heart together again. First it had just been sex, some distraction from the boring office routine (yes, even one of Europe's most wanted criminals had to do that) but she had made him feel special (all acted as he knew now). Well, how could she love him, how could anybody love him for who he was?  
Of course he could employ someone who did all the boring stuff but he barely trusted anyone which was probably why he hadn’t spent a single hour inside a prison. From time to time some “weird” invoices or something like that would come up, so he did it himself making sure his illegal dealings stayed secret. Luckily he hadn't put her onto that stuff as well, he surely wouldn’t be here now.  
But what information had she found and passed on? That was the main reason why he was on his way to her now? He had to know! And he would!  
He pulled into the underground car park of Julie's, one of London's most exclusive table dance bars and more important the most exclusive brothel of Britain, maybe even Europe. Owned by him, unofficially of course. Julie's name was in the papers as owner but she just signed her name to it and in return she was paid a most generous sum every month.  
He pulled into his parking spot right next to the elevator going up.  
Amused he saw that one of their best clients, the Prime minister, was in tonight again. Oh, yes. Friends in high places.  
Would he go down some day all of them would as well, and they knew it.

Fixing his suit jacket he pressed the button for the elevator. Only seconds later one arrived, another "friend" stepping out, Mr. Norton, the American ambassador in London. They briefly nodded at each other then he stepped in. He entered his PIN code to get directly to the floor the brothel was on.  
Stepping out he had to smile because Julie was already rushing towards him. They had obviously seen him arrive. One of his habits was never to call or tell anybody where he was going.  
"Mr. Hiddleston, how are you this fine evening?"  
"Julie, hi. Could be better, but thanks. How about you? How's business?"  
"Both quite well. Thank you. So I take it you are here on business? Or do you want me to get you one of the girls?"  
As much as he'd loved to "have some fun" he had to clear the situation with Elisabeth first. The special thing about the brothel was that there was at least one girl for every imaginable kink, for some even up to ten. Alicia was his favorite she could take more and harder blows than anyone else. And she did the best blow jobs on Earth.  
"Well, business first I guess. Maybe I'll combine it anyway. Where is she?"  
"I'll bring you to her."  
As he followed Julie down the hall he asked "Has she said anything?"  
"Only that I had to let her out. And when I declined that she wanted to talk to you. Do I want to know what she has done?"  
"Didn't Damian tell you?"  
"No. He just said you wanted her locked away."  
"Well, she's a traitor, spying for the cops."  
"Fucking bitch. In here."  
They walked through another security door to the soundproof rooms. In front of the last one on the right they stopped. Julie got the key out of her pocket and unlocked the door.  
"Thank you." Inhaling deeply he reached for the door handle, still struggling with himself if he should go in at all. But he had to know, so he pressed the handle down and slowly opened the door.  
The room was almost dark so at first he couldn't quite see her. As in all rooms here, there was only a bed, a chair, a desk and a dresser with all sorts of toys. Connected to the room was a small bathroom.  
When his eyes had adjusted to the dark he could see her frame on the bed covered with a blanket. He switched on the light and was immediately blinded by the bright light of the lamp on the ceiling.  
Surprised she spun around and when she saw him standing there her jaw dropped. She had no idea how long she had been in that room but it must have been at least two weeks but it had felt like at least two months.

"Tom!"  
"Don't call me that!" The coldness in his tone made her flinch. He wasn't here to make friends then. She sat up under her blanket pulling her knees close to her chest. Pleadingly she looked at him asking for mercy.  
His heart beat got faster as he looked into her face. The love he had felt for her until recently had turned into hate. His jaw clenching he stepped a bit closer. His face was bare of any emotions so she couldn't quite figure out why he was there. Had he come to kill her?  
"Why?" The word just came out of his mouth even if he had wanted to say something else. Her eyes grew bigger watching his moves.  
When she hadn't answered after a few moments he screamed in anger "TELL ME!!!"  
Shocked of his outburst she retreated further pressing her back against the metal bars of the headboard. When she had been recruited Mr. Fassbender had told her that Tom was a very dangerous man and she should proceed with caution but until that day she had never been afraid of him. To her he always had been quite the gentleman. However, now as he stood before her heavily breathing, a vein pulsing on his forehead and his face full of hate and anger she wished she had never agreed to work for Fassbender in the first place.

He had enough! If she didn't want to tell him why, she would at least tell him what she had passed on to the cops.  
Her ankle was chained to a hook underneath the bed so she just could reach the little bathroom but neither the door nor the dresser or chair. Good. He opened his jacket and took it off putting it over the back of the chair. Next he reached for the gun in the back of his pants putting it down on top of the dresser. From the corner of his eye he could see her flinch again when she saw it.  
"Please, don't kill me. My family needs me. Please Tom!"  
"DON'T CALL ME THAT! Greedy, little bitch. Didn't I pay you enough for your stupid secretary job?!" He let himself fall onto the chair watching her.  
"You know that my mum is sick and..."  
"DO I LOOK LIKE I FUCKING CARE ABOUT YOUR MUM?"  
"Please..." She remembered she had occasionally called him Sir (mostly during sex) "Sir."  
"You tell me what I want to know and then we will see." He had no intention of letting her go but she didn't have to know that. "What have you told the cops?"  
She wasn't an idiot and knew that he surely wouldn't just let her go but even if she wanted to tell him, she barely remembered all the things she had told or sent them.  
"Please, I need to know that my family is alright. Please."  
"Good, if you don't want to tell me, then..."  
"No, please. Don't kill me, please." She didn't want to die and maybe Mr. Fassbender or someone else would come and rescue her.  
"No. I won't." A bit relieved she sighed but when he went on her heart began to race whether she wanted or not. "A bullet is too good for you. I tell you what we'll do." He got up and opened the top drawer of the dresser studying its content. "We'll play a bit and when I'm done with you I'm sure you'll be happy to tell me everything I want to know."

As he had finished he heard a slight whimper from her. She was afraid. Good. Very good, indeed. Tipping his index finger against his lower lip he thought about the devices on offer: the cane would be too cruel for the start, better start slow. He wasn't much for the riding crop, so no to that as well. Paddle or belt? He had spanked her before with his bare hand but she hadn't enjoyed that which wasn't a problem now at all right now. He wasn't here to bring her pleasure anyway, quite the opposite actually.  
Finally he decided to start with the paddle and if she still didn't speak he would go for the studded belt. Was she still tight lipped, she would have an encounter with the cane. After putting the paddle out he took of his tie and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt.  
The rustling of the chain drew his attention, turning around he saw her standing only inches before him trying to reach him with her arms.  
"Please, I'll do everything you want, just tell me my family is alright." She was completely naked presenting her body to him. He had fucked her numerous times but his cock still was interested to get more. And he would - soon.  
Grinning he took a step away from her and closer to the dresser again. He opened another drawer and retrieved a pair of leather wrist cuffs. Putting them next to the paddle he turned towards her still grinning. This would be fun, at least for him...  
He took a step to the right, so did she. Perfect. Another one and she was positioned exactly how he wanted her. With a quick as a rocket move he took a large step forward and as she tried to sidestep him backwards she tripped over the chain and fell to the floor.  
Quickly getting the wrist cuffs he was on top of her securing them around her wrists he carried her fighting and screaming body back to the bed. Connecting her wrists to a hook on the headboard he took a step back and looked at her.  
"Everything? Well, you know what I want."

She couldn't give up quite yet and spread her legs wide showing him her pussy but he just grinned and went back to the dresser getting the paddle. Again she screamed for help as loud as she could but that hadn't worked the other at least hundred times she had tried.

Paddle in hand he stepped back towards the bed.  
"Will you turn around willingly?"  
She couldn't answer; she was in a shock somehow. How could this happen? In a movie the hero would come in now and save the girl in trouble. But no one came.  
Quick as lightning he was on her again grabbing her hips and dragging her to the side her hips at the corner of the mattress, knees on the floor. She tried to kick and fight him but he was just too strong and with her hands trapped her chances were even worse.  
Then the first blow landed and she screamed in pain as loud as possible while the sound of the paddle against her skin echoed through the room.  
Giving her a chance to speak he waited a bit till the next blow but as nothing came he started a series of ten blows each time stopping in between for a short moment. After the ten had made her ass already crimson he stopped again listening to her sobs.  
"You know how to end this!"  
Again he waited for her to speak but as there was nothing but sobs coming from her, he landed the next ten hitting even harder than before.  
Her screams echoed through the room at first but soon her voice broke and there were only whimpers coming from her.  
He sat down onto the bed next to her leaning back so he could see her face.  
"Still nothing to tell me?"  
There was a barely noticeable headshake. Tougher than he had thought. Getting up he replaced the paddle in his hand with the belt and just like before he started with a single hard blow to let her know what to expect. But again no word came from her.  
To his dismay his cock was rock hard by now and later he would fuck her but at that moment he couldn't use that distraction.  
This time he delivered each blow individually giving her time to say stop or something between each stroke. Once again she surprised him, however, and didn't speak, not even after he had hit her about 50 times. Her butt was almost purple by now but he didn't care.  
"Okay, if you want it the hard way."  
He walked over to the dresser again getting the cane; instead of going back to her side he stepped before her where she could see him.  
"Just tell me what I want to hear and I'll stop. Simple."

She looked up at him, first she noticed he was hard - yeah he had always liked to slap her butt but this was just brutal - when her tear stained eyes met his face she was shocked how cold his expression was. She knew he had been in love with her and she really liked him, his charm, his wit and definitely the sex, but she didn't want to get too close because of the investigations against him. The last thing she had needed was a criminal lover. And if there was a bit left of his love for her he would have mercy.  
"Tom, please." Was that her voice?  
He inhaled visibly and then went round the bed to her ass. "If we keep going your ass will look like Rudolph's fucking nose! Will you speak?" He waited a few moments but no reaction. "Very well."  
He reached his arm out as far as possible and then brought it, the cane in hand, down.

She had thought the belt was already pure hell but this was worse, much worse. The stinging pain washed through her whole body while she let out a deafening scream.  
As before there was the usual pause fighting inwardly what she would do, she thought she'd be rather dead than undergo more of these.  
He had already struck out for the next one when she whispered "Please, I'll tell you everything, just stop. Please."  
Relieved he inhaled deeply he had almost thought she wouldn't talk at all. Sitting down on the bed next to her he waited for her words while he teased her behind with the tip of the cane. Her head rolled to the side so she could see him, well, at least his back.  
"One day on my way home from work a car pulled up next to me..."  
"I don't want to know that! And you know it. So don't push your luck!" Warning he brought the cane down gently on her colorful ass.  
"I sent them most the stuff from my computer."  
Surprised and even more relieved he asked "Just that?" The stuff, she had been working on, had only to do with his table dance club which was on the floor above his office and his only legal business, his front.  
"Well, I don't remember everything but there was a photo on your desk one day. The one from Spain on that yacht."  
Damn, this was less good as two of his drug suppliers were on the pick, not directly next to him but in the pic nevertheless. "What else?"  
"Some invoices and letters from your desk as well."  
"How?"  
"I took pictures with my phone and emailed them."  
Shit, they had destroyed her phone the day they had found out about her.  
"What letters or invoices?"  
"I don't remember. I haven't read them and after I had sent them I immediately deleted them. Please, To... Sir. My fam..."  
"Is alright. I would be stupid to go after them. Although I've thought about a little threesome with your stupid sisters. Nothing from my flat?"  
"No." It had been a big mistake to take her up to his apartment in the first place as only a handful of people knew he was living on the top floor of the high-rise their offices and club was in.  
"Anything else you've told them? About the house or anything."  
"They asked which car you were driving, I said at least five different ones. They also asked about the people you were working with. I took pictures of the two Chrises and Damian. And your friend Benedict."  
"Ben? When?"  
"When he visited you."  
His mate Ben owned a franchise of pubs and clubs all over the country which they used to sell drugs and split the money from it.  
"Anything else?"  
"I can't think of anything right now, Tom... Sir. Sorry."  
"Okay. I will fuck you now. Either you make it easy and co-operate or you'll get it the hard way."  
"What do you want me to do?" They had fucked so often, one more time wouldn't hurt. Or, well, it actually would if he entered her like that. She was as far from aroused as possible.  
He stood up grabbing her legs he turned her around and threw her on the bed. Another loud scream escaping her as her tortured butt made contact with the sheets. He opened his pants pulling his erection free.  
"Spread your legs."  
"Sir, would you maybe get some lotion from the bathroom." Raising an eyebrow he looked at her cunt. "Please."  
Nodding he turned and walked over to the dresser again. He pulled out a small bottle of lube and coated his hard-on with it. Not bothering to take off his shirt he crawled onto the bed and between her spread legs. He positioned himself and then thrust into her in one hard move.  
When he had fucked her for the first time in his office she struggled to take all of him but after over a year of almost daily sex she was used to it and, full credit to him, he had made her come every time. Tonight though she doubted that would be the case. On one hand she wasn't really in the mood and on the other hand he was fucking her so hard it was quite painful. She didn't even want to imagine how it would have hurt without the lube. Every time he rammed into her, her tortured ass screamed in pain. His face the one of a wild animal in a death rush. Luckily it didn't take him to long to finish inside her.

Afterwards he quickly got back up getting dressed, he turned to her again. Fresh tears ran down her face, she was sure she would die now. Without saying anything he grabbed the gun and she closed her eyes hoping death would come quickly.  
He saw her flinching as he grabbed his Beretta and put it back where it had been when he came here. As he had said earlier a bullet was too good for her. She would stay here, work for him, so to speak, and get him some of his money back that he had wasted on her. He stuffed his navy blue tie into his pocket, put on his jacket and turned to leave.  
"You won't kill me?"  
"No. Not yet. But believe me soon you'll wish I had. Oh, and should you remember anything else you’ve told them, tell Julie to call me."

With that he finally turned and left the room. He walked down the hall and knocked on Julie's office door.  
"Come in. Oh, Mr. Hiddleston. Finished?"  
"Yeah. You might want to get her some cooling lotion though or not. I don’t really care. She stays here. She will work like the other girls but make sure she is and stays gagged when someone goes in there. We surely have some clients who are into a sort of rape scenario. Keep her money fully for yourself. And she won't leave that room, not until I instruct you otherwise."  
"Yes, Sir. Of course. Alicia will be free in a bit in case you want some distraction."  
Thinking about it for a bit he soon shook his head. He was exhausted and tired. He needed some sleep. Maybe after knowing that the information she gave the cops weren't too crushing he finally could sleep longer than two hours at a time.


	2. Investigations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We go to the other side and see how they plan to get to Tom.

Andrea Riseborourgh had just finished her field training at the MI6 always working with her partner and by now also good friend James McAvoy.

 

A couple of days ago they were assigned to keep an eye on a guy called Hugh Jackman, Australian, and, according to some informant, involved in almost everything that had to do with drugs in and around London.  
This morning, however, Anne-Marie, James' wife and the director's secretary, had called her over to one of the meeting rooms and told her she should wait outside until she was called in.  
To her amusement the door was open a bit and she could hear almost everything.  
"She hasn't the necessary experience!" She heard an unknown male voice say. "I don't want to loose another..."  
"What? Agent? She was a civilian, you never should have put her to it in the first place." That was director Steward. "James? What do you think?"  
"Well, she's fantastic in her job but I'm not sure if Hiddleston isn't a number too big for her. I mean that Olsen has vanished without a trace. He's dangerous, very dangerous. And clever. If not he would be sitting in one of our high security prisons by now."  
Hiddleston? She had heard that name before, but where?  
"Enough of this. We need to nail that bastard, the sooner the better. Bring her in and lets see if she'd be prepared to do the job before we keep on speculating." A stern female voice claimed, she knew the voice but couldn't quite put a face to it.  
"Yes, okay."

The door opened, luckily it was James who smiled at her when he figured she must have heard the most of the conversation. Nodding at him she got up and followed him into the conference room. 

On the head of the table sat director Steward, on his right Ian McKellen the director of Scotland Yard, next to him a man about James' age. Then there were some vacant chairs before her eyes landed on the owner of the female voice, Interior Minister Helen Mirren. There were also two more men which looked kind of out of place. James brought her to a chair motioning her to sit down.  
"Andrea, hi," director Steward started and introduced the people in the room. The man next to director McKellen turned out to be one of Scotland Yards head investigators, Michael Fassbender, and the two other men were CIA agents.  
"You're here today Andrea because we have an assignment for you." He pressed a button and the beamer went to life.  
On the wall behind director Steward appeared a picture of a young, really handsome man with razor-sharp cheek bones and eyes as blue as the sky on a sunny day.  
"That's Thomas William Hiddleston. He owns a franchise of strip clubs all over the country 'the Saphire Lounge'."  
Now she knew where she had heard his name before: a couple of weeks ago she had red in some magazine about the Prince's latest escapades in a strip club. The name had been mentioned in the article.  
"However, our sources say he is involved in pretty much every crime you can imagine: prostitution, drug dealing, corruption and so on. Unfortunately the only thing we've got against him is a charge because of bodily harm from about ten years ago. We want to put someone into his organisation, this is where you come in. Would you be prepared to do that."  
"Yes, of course."  
"Good. We, or better the Yard had an insider in there already but that didn't work out. Mr Fassbender."  
The guy stood up fixing his suit jacket.

 

Clearing his throat he started "Hiddleston was at one of these posh boarding schools." He couldn't manage to surpress the deprecative tone in his voice. "After that he went to university in Cambridge. He mastered as the years best in international business and management. He worked for an import/export business for about three years where he probably came into contact with some dubious characters for the first time, as we believe.  
When he left the company he founded the Saphire Lounge, first here in London. Now he has about 15 clubs all over Britain.  
About a year ago I was able to convince his secretary, Miss Elisabeth Olsen, to work for us.

 

She has sent us numerous stuff concerning the Saphire Lounge unfortunately only a few, shall we say, more interesting information."  
He pressed a button and a picture came up. On it were five men, one of them clearly Hiddleston.   
"Here we have our friend at a 'vacation' in Spain. Together with two of North Africa's best known drug barons." He pointed to two dubious looking guys. "However, we can't link him or his company to these guys. Miss Olsen has also sent us some quite interesting documents like invoices to different companies, some letters and a part of what we consider a payroll. But that's still not enough evidence to convict him for anything.  
Unfortunately Miss Olsen disappeared about three weeks ago without a trace.  
Hiddleston's right hand Damian Lewis called the police on the afternoon of the 3 April telling us he was missing an employee. Allegedly she hadn't shown up for work that day.  
We checked their security cameras but nothing. We tried to locate her phone but it has vanished as well.  
Her neighbour said she left the house in the morning as usual, we even were able to follow her through CCTV cameras to the tube station near the office but according to the security cameras there she never arrived. We suspect they've been manipulated but so far haven't been able to proof that.  
Other people working for Hiddleston are also these two.

 

Officially they are his bodyguards, but we are sure they are his guys for the dirty work. Chris Hemsworth is an Australian ex-soldier. In England now for about five years. The other one is Chris Evans, American, ex boxing champion. Miss Olsen once said you wouldn't want to have those two as your enemies.  
Damian Lewis, his right hand.

 

We are sure he knows about everything that's going on but like everybody else in his closest circle, he is totally clean and loyal. And before you ask, we have tried.  
Miss Olsen also snapped some pictures of visitors, one of them is night club owner Benedict Cumberbatch.

 

We also know that they are good friends off business as well. As you can imagine he's also clean apart from a ticket for speeding.  
Among the other visitors were from Ministers to highly influencial managers everyone. We are also sure he's got some insiders at the Yard as well as MI6. So make sure this investigation stays 100 percent top secret. No word to anyone.  
As they need a new secretary you will apply for the job. That's our way in. We tried to keep their job offer offline which didn't entirely work but so far their haven't been much applicants. When we're finished here we will create a whole new identity for you.  
That's it from me. Any questions?"  
Andrea rose her hand. "How do we know he's involved in all that shit?"  
"Through several intelligence services which have caught his name in connection with those crimes. As our, for example, colleagues from the CIA."  
The older one stood up and nodded briefly "We've actually got an agent in there for some time now. However, the only information she got us so far is who's coming or going in the Saphire Lounge. And let me tell you every man that has influence in this country has been there.  
Our agent repeatedly tried to get closer to Hiddleston but he is incredible careful about who he lets in his inner circle. It won't be easy."  
With that he sat back down looking at them.  
"But why do you think he will let me in?"  
"It will take time, proceed with caution. Don't draw too much attention."  
"Have you tried to bug his office?"  
"We asked Miss Olsen a couple of time to place some micros but she refused to?"  
"What? Why?"  
"She said she still didn't think he was a criminal but we think she had a sexual affair with him."  
"And you let her work for you?" Andrea's tone was quite disgusted by their principals. Paying someone for poor informations who likely doublecrossed them?   
"We had no other choice!" Impatiently Fassbender snarled back at her.  
"Miss Risebourgh is right. You should have replaced her as soon as you suspected that." Minister Mirren supported her. "That was pure stupidity and ignorance. Maybe the poor girl is dead because of that now."  
"Or he sent her away to some small island in the Carribean hiding her stupid ass from us!" Fassbender had enough of defending his decision.  
"Okay, I think this is enough for now. James, you and Mr. Fassbender here will work together on the case, supporting Andrea whenever it is needed. You'll also create her new background together. I want it by tomorrow evening, memorised and in the computers. Good luck lady and gentlemen. And don't forget: all of this is top secret!"

They all stood and left, only Andrea, James and Michael stayed behind.  
They created a whole new vita for her, only her name stayed everything else was erased, family and friends, school and university.  
By 8 pm they were finally finished and Andrea felt like her head was spinning. She got home at about 9 and spent another three hours trying to remember her new life.

She was born in Devon in 1984. Her parents died when she was young. After that she stayed with her gran in Bristol for three years but then she died as well and at the age of 13 she grew up in an orphanage getting into trouble all the time.  
With 14 she got caught for shop lifting for the first time. Many more would follow.   
After school she had a scholarship to a university in Birmingham but she dropped out after not even a year. Shortly after that had been convicted for armed robbery. She had been in prison for two years.  
Following that she somehow managed to get her life together more or less without committing more crimes.  
She had worked as a receptionist for an insurance company and after that as secretary for an airline...

They spent the whole next day rehearsing her story over and over again until she started to believe everything. She even had a police file with all her crimes listed, a picture and her fingerprints. She wasn't sure if that was a good idea after all. Who would hire an ex-criminal? But James and Michael who got along surprisingly well both thought it was a brilliant idea.  
Finally they wrote her application and walked to director Steward's office for the final test. It didn't take long and he applauded them for their good work.

Three days later she got a call from Mr. Lewis who wanted to invite her for a job interview.

 

____________________

 

Damian had enough, after the incident with Elisabeth Tom wasn't the same anymore. He had been his friend but now he was even more distant to everybody. Tom had loved her, he knew that because they had talked about it one day.   
No one had a clue she was working for the other side but it must have been a nightmare for Tom to find out. He had disappeared into his apartment for almost a whole week, not answering the bell nor the phone. Damian had been worried about his boss and especially his friend Tom. But luckily he had come back the week later. However, his outfit wasn't his usual business suit, but worn out sweats and an old washed-out t-shirt. He hadn't said a word, a low grunt was all he got from him while he had watched him astound, pouring himself a cup of coffee.  
"Tom? Are you alright?" Another grunt and he turned and left for his office.  
He had never imagined Tom could be like that at all. Usually he was strong, mostly serious and always the tough business man whether it was the club or any of their other "activities".   
Of course he knew about everything that was going on: from the drug deals to the brothels to corruption and other things.  
Tom trusted him, they were friends. But Tom never talked about his feelings, only once. They had been out in one of Ben's clubs drinking. Tom was quite tipsy already and suddenly said "You know, Lizzy is great. Great fuck, obviously but I think I want her to be my girlfriend."  
"Do you love her?"  
"Yes, I think I do."

Oh, yes he did and that stupid bitch broke his heart and that could bring down the toughest man. He himself was happily married and they shared everything. The only thing his wife had no idea about was what his job was really about.  
After they had put that bitch into the boot of the car they had brought her to one of their warehouses first to question her. But she didn't say a word not even when he threatened to cut her fingers off, one after the other. Had he been sure Tom would be okay with it he would have done it. But he didn't pick up his mobile.  
So they had brought her to Julie where he threatened her again but still no word. He turned to leave but before he did he asked her why she had to break his heart. Hadn't it been enough to snoop around their office?

He knew Tom had been to see her the evening before but hadn't seen him since. When he had arrived his office was still empty which was the absolute exception.  
He had tried to phone him but no answer. He would do those two job interviews that were up then take care of that if he hadn't shown up by then.

He had asked Tom if he wanted to do the interviews but as expected he didn't really care. He actually had said "the uglier the better". Well, he knew Tom liked the ladies, at least their lady parts. If they just came without any problems...

The first girl was a blonde, little thing. Too much like Lizzy he decided quickly and sent her away. The next one was better in the looks but also had the IQ of a slice of toast. No way.  
In an hour another one would come. Andrea something, thick glasses, looking kind of nerdy. Maybe she would be better, however, she had a bit of a criminal background. Of course she hadn't written that into her application but they knew the right people for this kind of information.  
He got up and walked down the hall to Tom's office but he still wasn't there. Damn. He grabbed his phone quickly deciding if he didn't pick up he would go upstairs using the emergency staircase to get into his apartment. Four rings, five, then finally the dark voice answered. "What?"  
He sounded angry, well, as usual. "I was just slightly worried? How did it go?"  
"Couldn't fall asleep till early morning. I'll tell you the rest later in my office. But not as bad as we thought."  
"Oh. That's great."  
"See you later."  
"Sure."

Relieved he went back to his office. Good. Maybe Tom would be more open with him now again, now that Tom was sure he hadn't told her anything.   
He quickly checked the state of their next big cocaine delivery which was due the next day and everything looked good. No delays or other problems. He got himself a coffee and when he returned the bell went off. Pressing the button for the security camera he saw a dark haired woman with thick glasses.  
He got up and went for the door.

"Hello. Miss Riseborourgh, I think?"  
"Yes. Hello." She shook his hand smiling at him.  
"I'm Mr. Lewis, we already talked on the phone."  
"Oh, yes of course. Pleasure to meet you." Of course she knew who he was she had spent the last days reading all about him and Hiddleston, over and over again.  
"You, too. Come in." They went down a hallway, Andrea made sure her hair stayed back so the camera in her glasses had a good view. She thought it looked absolutely stupid but it was the newest model of their technique department. Hidden in the frame in the unfashionable glasses were a high definition camera and a microphone which made her feel a little more comfortable knowing that James and Michael were watching.  
"Can I get you something to drink?"  
"No, thank you very much." She was wondering why he had opened the door himself. Didn't they have a receptionist or someone?  
"Okay. Shall we start then?"  
"Yes, please."  
"Miss Riseborough, why have you applied for this job?"  
"Well, because the working hours at the airline, I'm currently working for, are a nightmare. We have to be in our office from 8 am to 8 pm Monday to Saturday. Of course I share the hours with my colleagues but still you barely have any spare time. And I also hope to have more responsibility than now."  
"How have you found our job offer?"  
"I saw it online and a friend of mine is actually a regular guest in the club in Devon were I'm from. And he said it was absolutely amazing."  
"What do you think this job will be like?"  
"Well, doing correspondence, maybe some accounting, placing orders, issue the pay cheques for the employees."  
"Very good. That's pretty much it." He hated it if the women thought they'd someday be the boss of the whole company. "In your vita there is a whole of two years. What have you been doing then?"  
Fassbender had warned her that they'd surely would know everything they had put into the computers. Looking down to her knees she said fidgeting with the hem of her skirt "Nothing I'm proud of. I've been in prison for armed robbery."  
"And you didn't think that should have been included in your application?"  
"Would you have invited me then at all?"  
"Maybe. It's at least better than if I've wasted my time now with you."  
"Please, Mr. Lewis, I haven't been in anything illegal since. Please give me a chance. I won't disappoint you."  
"I will talk to Mr. Hiddleston. I will call you tomorrow probably. Thank you for coming."  
Shit, she knew it had been a mistake to put that into her backstory. "Thank you for your time Mr. Lewis."  
He brought her to the door and they said their good-byes.

Back in his office he grabbed her application pinning a post-it with "my recommendation" to it and carried it over to Tom's office.

 

____________________

 

Andrea was furious at her colleagues for their false judgement of the situation. Rolling her eyes at them when she entered their secret office.   
"I told you it was a bad idea!"  
"Why don't you wait until tomorrow before you shout at us Andrea?" James grinned at her. "You did great by the way. And excellent pictures. Look at that."  
He played a bit of the recorded material.   
"No sign of Hiddleston?"  
"No, Michael. No one else but Lewis was there."  
"Security door, no chance to break in." James noted replaying the part where she approached the door.   
"But if I'll work there don't you think I'll get my own key or whatever?"  
"As far as I know Miss Olsen always had to ring and wait till someone opened."  
"Damn."

The next morning, just when she had breakfast, her phone rang. It was Lewis telling her she had the job. So she was in starting the following Monday...


	3. Bad Childhood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter is quite tough and explains a bit about our vilian's background.  
> Enjoy!

After he got home from "visiting" Elisabeth, he pulled off all his clothes and cuddled into his sheets closing his eyes and trying to sleep. But something kept him awake: a thought. What would his life be like if it hadn't started like it did?

***

At the age of 13 his parents decided to send him away to one of those boarding schools. He hated the idea of being away from home, his family and friends and it felt to him as he was being punished. He knew he wasn't easy always getting in trouble somehow: playing pranks on other pupils or teachers, getting into fights and being put in detention at least once a week for distracting the teaching.  
His dad said it was because they offered the best education and he could go to any university worldwide he wanted to afterwards. His sisters, however, didn't have to leave, they still were allowed to go to the same school.   
His marks weren't bad but they could have been better. He just found it hard to concentrate from time to time because it was so boring.  
Feeling like an outcast he packed his things and they brought him away. 

First the school wasn't that bad, it kind of was like a summer camp. Unfortunately there were boys only and he always had enjoyed the company of girls. He quickly made new friends and it was kind of okay, even if on the weekends he was one of the few boys that stayed at the school and weren't picked up by their families.   
It had hurt him deeply that after the first four weeks no one had come to pick him up for a single weekend. At least his mum had called at least once a week and asked how he was but he soon didn't take her calls anymore as they usually felt like she just did them because it was the right thing to do and she had to because she was his mum.   
Then everything changed. A fellow pupil had played a prank on him about a week ago putting a frog into his bag. He had screamed out of surprise and everyone had laughed but he wouldn't be him if he didn't reciprocate. It didn’t take him long to find out who it had been. So he got a bottle of clue and smeared it over the boy's chair in the classroom. It was Mr. Lang's maths class and the boys had to come to the blackboard, one after the other, and solve a task.   
Of course the boy couldn't get up and Mr. Lang thought he was being made fun of but soon found out that the boy was victim of a prank. In his stern voice he had asked who had done this. Obviously no one volunteered, especially not Tom. To his misery, however, the teacher started to search their bags and soon found the bottle of clue in his.  
"You'll stay after the lesson."  
Tom had nodded he was used to detention anyway but it came much worse.

All the other students had left already as Mr. Lang went to the door locking it.  
"Thomas, stand up and come here."   
Yeah, great. More writing onto the blackboard. He hated having the chalk all over his fingers.  
"Take off your pants!"  
Tom stared at him disbelievingly, he must have misheard him. Slightly shaking his head he looked up at him.  
"Take your pants off! Now!" Mr. Lang grabbed the long ruler from the blackboard.  
This must be a joke, Tom thought. And this time shook his head with more emphasis. Only to be shoved over, his upper body pressed onto the teacher's desk. He tried to struggle free but the adult just was too strong. He felt his pants and then undies fall to the floor. 

He had a hard time sitting for about a week. But this had only been the first experience of this kind. Much more and worse would follow.   
Christmas holidays came and finally his dad showed up to take him home. All the way home he hadn't said a word only listening to his father telling him about his job and that Tom should be thankful for the opportunity he had thanks to his dad's hard work.  
The holidays were over far sooner than Tom could wish for and the day before he had to go back he had begged his parents in tears not to send him back but of course they couldn't be convinced. They probably thought he was just being like that because the school was quite strict and he didn’t like that.

At the age of 14 he had been raped for the first time.   
In the summer holidays which he spent at home he had packed his stuff and ran away. He wanted to go to his grandparents in Scotland but half way there the police had caught him and brought him back. His parents had asked him why. And he had said he wouldn't want to go back to the school, that they could send him to another boarding school, a less expensive one, just please not back there.  
Of course he hadn't told them why and never would. But his father wasn't to be convinced. His mum, however, had noticed that he had changed. Her once active and funny boy was now serious and didn’t speak at all except you’d ask him something. But his dad wasn’t concerned about this at all. The boy’s marks were fantastic and his new reserved way must have come from the education there as well. So when the holidays were over he was taken back to the school. At the age of 15 after a particular bad experience he had tried to kill himself by jumping out of the highest window but he had only broken his left foot which made him an even easier target for his molesters.  
Finally he came to accept his destiny and didn't longer bother to fight it. Often he laid awake the whole night next to one of his tormentors listening to their snoring or feeling their breath at his neck.

***

He still did sometimes wake up drenched in sweat and sometimes even screaming. But he had had his revenge a couple of years ago.  
It had taken him a while to find them again. But with his connections and money he finally did.   
Mr. Lang was married and even had some grown up kids which were about his age. He had gone to his house waited outside in his car until his wife had gone out. He had retired a couple of years ago, so he was at home most of the time.   
Pushing his gun into the bag of his pants he put on leather gloves, grabbed the bag he had brought and went up to the house. He rang and a swearing old man opened. On seeing that face chills went up and down his body. Yes, that was the bastard.  
"May I help you?"  
"You don't remember me, do you?"  
"I'm afraid I d..."  
Right then Tom drew his gun out from his back and pointed it to him forcing the old man to go inside. He locked the door behind him and brought him to a desk in the living room.  
"What do you want? We don't have any mo..."  
"Shut up you old bastard. Grab pen and paper and write!"  
Tom had dictated him what to write, his eyes widening, when he realised what the whole thing was about.   
"Please, my family mustn't know about that. Please."  
"Oh, they will. Everybody will, as you'll address the letter to the Guardian. Oh, no. Better." He copied the letter and together with an envelope slammed them down on the table before him he made him write the address, put the letter in it and close it. The copied one would stay in the house and Tom said he could write on it whatever he wanted. In the end there were only three words there "I am sorry."  
"Thank you very much for your co-operation Mr. Lang. You still don't remember me?"  
"No. I had so ma..."  
"Yeah? How many boys have you abused over the years? You and your colleagues? Can you even remember? How many lives have you ruined? Well, it doesn't matter anymore. Unfortunately you'll ruin some more. Your wife's and your kids'. Come here."  
He wrapped the rope, he had brought, around his neck and dragged him out into the backyard. Thanks to high hedges no one could see what was happening. Tom fixed the other end of the rope to a thick branch of an oak tree and pulled his ex-teacher up watching him slowly and painfully asphyxiating.  
When he was dead he got a ladder from the garage throwing it over beneath him so it looked like a suicide. 

He got back into the hired car throwing the letter to the newspaper into the nearest mailbox the other one was still on the desk. Satisfied he drove off to his next victim who would suffer way more.

About 45 minutes later he pulled up in front of his ex-physics teacher's house. Mr. Gallagher had retired only recently and Tom would make sure he wouldn't have much from his pension. This was a bit trickier as he was living in a neighbourhood with loads of houses. He had to be really carefully.   
Luckily the backyard was also surrounded by hedges and high walls. He waited till it was dark, grabbed the stuff he had brought for his "friend". Tom thought he would be particularly interested in the meat eating ants. Oh, yes. This would be fun! He had gotten the idea while watching Indiana Jones for the millionth time. You could find inspiration anywhere…  
He made his way from where he had parked the car to his backyard. Climbing over the high wall wasn't a problem due to his height and strength, he only had to make sure the glass with the ants stayed whole. He had watched the old wanker leave the house about half an hour ago, for his weekly card game according to his source.  
Which would give him enough time to prepare his little surprise for him. He opened the backdoor with a hair needle, no problem with those old doors. In the half dark of the kitchen he unpacked his bag putting the jar with the ants onto the kitchen table.  
"Don't worry guys, you'll soon get something to eat."  
After he had prepared everything he sat down into the armchair in the living room and waited.   
He didn't have to wait long though. The door opened and the light was switched on.  
"What a shit evening." Came an all too familiar voice from the hallway. He heard the door close and being locked. Good. He stepped into the door grinning. "And it won't get much better."  
The old man spun around in shock. First he just stared up at Tom. Oh yes, that had changed. Then recognition washed over the older's face. "Hiddleston? What are you doing here?"  
"I thought I pay an old friend a visit." His grin spread even wider over his face looking kind of menacing. Mr. Gallagher made a move for the door but Tom was faster, caught his hands, tied them on his back and gagged him with a pair of unwashed undies he had found in the laundry. He dragged the struggling body to the kitchen where he shoved him over the kitchen table his face next to the jar with the ants.   
He dragged the old man's pants down and stuffed a vibrator up his ass. Turning it on, he listened – and somewhat enjoyed – to the old man's painful moans.   
"Oh, you don't like that? Good!"  
He got the bowl he had put out earlier emptying the jar with the ants into it and placing it on the floor. He had googled the ants thinking they were made up for the movie, but no. It hadn't been easy to get some but once more his contacts helped him. He dragged the body over and dropped him with his manhood into the bowl full of the hungry insects.  
Taking a few steps back he watched and it didn't take long till his abuser began to struggle and horrible muffled cries escaped him. He waited a bit longer while checking his mails then stepped next to the body. At some point he had fainted. What a pity, so he couldn't enjoy the beautiful little insects. Tom kicked him so the unconscious body rolled to his side. The ants had done great work, where his penis and balls had been there were only bloody pieces of skin.   
Yes, this was his revenge. And it felt good. He grabbed a bottle of beer drowning half of it at once then he continued his plan and turned on the gas jets of the stove next he lit a candle in the hallway outside the kitchen. Throwing a last glance at the slowly waking Mr. Gallagher he turned and slowly left through the back door the beer still in hand.   
Leaving like he had got there he went back to his car while drinking the rest of the beer. Just in time he remembered that there would be his DNA on the bottle so he didn't smash it onto the floor but took it in the car with him. Turning on the radio he waited and soon there was a loud boom as the house went up in flames. Perfect.  
A couple of days later he read the newspaper finding an article about a tragic accident and another day later there was a huge headline in the Guardian. This was for his friends from school. 

 

He tossed and turned in his bed once more not able to fall asleep. By two in the morning he got up again walking naked through his apartment. He poured himself a triple whiskey and sat down on his sofa he slowly drowned it thinking about when he had become the monster that didn't even feel sorry for killing another human being. And why no one could love him, not even his parents. What had he done to them to deserve it? He hadn't talked to either of them since the day he had gotten his diploma from university. He hadn't invited them but they showed up nevertheless.  
He was called up on the stage as the last one as one of the year’s best. He had been so proud of himself. It was exactly what he had needed after the tough time he had the weeks before. He was on his way to one of the parties when suddenly his mum and dad stood there. Ignoring them it was his dad who spoke first.   
"We are really proud of you, you know."  
He just kept on walking feeling his heart sting at the thought of them leaving him helpless to his abusive teachers. All he had achieved he had done on his own. No thanks to either of them.  
"Tom, darling, please come home." His mother’s voice sounded like she was crying but he didn't turn. As far as he was concerned he didn't have parents any longer. 

***

Finally he had graduated from school and would be off to university soon. He had a scholarship for one of the best universities in Britain which made him feel good. He wouldn't need his father’s support.   
His parents wanted to pick him up the next day but he wouldn't stay in that shit hole a second longer than absolutely necessary. He packed up his stuff and dragged it the short way over to the station.   
When the train left the station bringing him to a new, a better life he started to cry out of relief. A couple of hours later he arrived at Cambridge, he had already arranged for an accommodation near the campus. It was a room in a shared flat with two other guys and two girls. He would have to find a job to pay his way but that wouldn't be a problem.  
Falling down onto his new bed he grabbed his mobile calling his parents. Of course they weren't home but that was fine with him. He left a message saying he had already left for Cambridge and they didn't have to bother to get him.  
When he had finished he opened the hood of the phone and threw the SIM card away. He would get a new one once he had a job, which didn't take long.   
The restaurant around the corner needed waiters and he was happy to work there. He actually quite liked it, nonetheless because of Emily his colleague. Soon they were a couple spending every free minute together.   
Emily had a small flat which her parents paid for so most time they slept at hers. She was studying arts in her second term soon and she introduced him to her friends. He was so in love with her, she seemed to be the only other person on Earth when they were together. And she helped him to get more confident again not only around other people but also in bed. She taught him how to touch and satisfy a woman and soon they made love nearly every day, sometimes even at the toilet at the restaurant during their break or in an empty broom cupboard between lessons at the campus.

The years went by and Emily was his everything. He had gathered all his savings and bought an engagement ring the day before he would hand in his exam paper.   
With a huge grin on his face he made his way across the campus to his tiny room. Why he still had it after five years, he had no idea. He slept at Emily's every night anyway. Grabbing the champagne bottle he had bought, a blanket and the little box with the ring he practically sprinted over to her place wanting to celebrate that he soon had his Master degree and would work for an international company in London.  
Taking two steps at once he sprinted up the flight of stairs to her apartment. The box in his pants pocket would stay there for a bit, the champagne hidden behind his back and the blanket under his arm he rang the doorbell. Soon there were steps coming towards him behind the door, then the door opened and one of his class mates opened the door dressed in nothing but a pair of boxers.  
Tom's jaw dropped as he saw that. What was going on? As an answer there were more footsteps and her voice "Is it the postman with my order, Pete?" She came into view only wearing her robe when she saw him standing there her face changed into a guilty expression. "Tom? What are you doing here? I thought you were finishing your paper."  
He didn't answer her, not with words anyway. Out of a sudden and, well, stupid impulse he threw the champagne bottle at her which hit her shoulder. While she screamed in pain he turned and ran dropping the blanket on his way out. He ran as fast as he could. By the time he got back to his room tears ran down his face. Had her love for him not been real? Why couldn't even she love him? What had he done wrong?  
Lying on his bed he thought about his life. He had wanted to marry her, move with her to London and maybe someday have a family. But now? He pulled the ring out of his pocket looking at it. In a rush of anger and pain he threw it across the room where it landed somewhere in his books. He needed a drink.  
Getting up he slowly shuffled to the kitchen. The place was quite, all of his flat mates were probably out celebrating. Once more life went on without him. Opening the beer bottle in his hand his eyes landed on the big knife they used for cooking. He still didn't quite know why but he grabbed it and it felt good in his hand. Right, in some way. He drowned the beer and went into the bathroom. He scribbled a note which he pinned to the outside of the door simply saying "Get the cops". Then he closed the door behind him taking his sweater of. In his jeans and t-shirt he climbed into the bath tub. Inhaling deeply a couple of times he finally slid his wrist as deep and long as he could.  
The pain was harsh but he didn't scream just watched as the blood started to run. He could literally feel the life running from his veins and soon he felt sleepy and weak. Would anyone even notice his absence from this planet?  
From somewhere he heard knocking but wasn't even sure whether it was just in his head or real. Then the knocking turned into banging and as his eyes finally fell closed there were voices outside the door. His pain had gone and even if he would end up in hell it couldn't be worse than his quite short life had been...

 

His left hand was pounding painfully in the rhythm of his heart. Blinking his eyes he took in his surroundings. Everything was white and sterile; he was in a hospital bed. His left wrist was wrapped in thick bandages in his right hand stuck a needle which was connected with a bag of blood preservation above him. What had happened? How had he gotten here? For a moment he couldn't remember but then it struck him like lightning. Emily! Anew he felt the painful sting in his heart. Tears started running, he was useless. No one on the whole planet would miss him, so why couldn't they just have let him die?  
He slowly moved his hands together to pull out the needle and leave to finish what he had begun. Maybe he should have jumped into the river his pockets filled with rocks or something like that.  
His fingers felt numb when they finally reached his right hand. Right then the door opened and an older woman dressed in white came in.  
"Good, you are awake. I'm Doctor Russo. How are you feeling Tom?" He didn't answer just turned his head to the side away from her. "You know, it was pretty close. We almost would have lost you. Is there anyone we should call? Your parents, maybe?" Still no reaction, it was kind of unusual that a young man like him had no one listed as emergency contact not even if he was an orphan.  
There was a knock on the door and a nurse stuck her head in calling her out.  
"I'll be right back Tom." She got up and went to the door. "Would you stay with him for a moment?" "Of course, Doctor."  
She went outside finding two police officers waiting for her.  
"Hello, Doctor. How is he?"  
"Better again, but still pretty, well, confused. Have you found him?"  
"Yes, poor kid."  
"Have you any idea why he did it? Was there a suicide note or something?"  
"Actually we wanted to arrest him. He broke his girlfriend's clavicle by throwing a champagne bottle at her. After, as we've found out, he had caught her with another guy. Plus our colleagues have just called, they found a ring in his room."  
"Shit. Could you maybe check if he's got some relatives we can call? There is no emergency contact listed in his details."  
"We've actually called his parents down in Oxford already. They haven't heard from him in years but they said they'd come."  
"Good. How is the girl? I mean have you told her?"  
"She's okay. And no, we haven't. That's none of her business."

They left again and she went back inside to him. Sitting down next to him she grabbed his hand, it was always hard to deal with a young suicidal person but especially when they had such a bad experience and she could partly understand him.  
"The police have called your family. Th..."  
"I don't have a family," he snarled at her. More tears ran down his face.   
Shit, that went much deeper than just a broken heart, she thought. "Do you want to talk about it?"  
"Piss off! Why can't you just let me die!" His beautiful blue eyes looked at her for the first time, they were filled with so much pain. What had happened to him?   
She had hoped he saw it as a mistake and they could let him go soon but now she knew that wouldn't be the case.  
"Okay Tom. Try to sleep a bit. Rest. I get a nurse to give you something to help you sleep. See you tomorrow."  
She stood up and left.

She was barely out of the door and he finally managed to pull the needle out of his right arm. Then he started to unwrap the bandage on his left, it took ages but finally he could see the stitches that held his flesh together. He started tugging on them and he almost screamed in pain but somehow managed not to. He had opened the first two and the blood started running again when the door opened, the nurse from earlier coming in. Seeing what he was doing her eyes widened and she pressed a button next to the door and shouted "Doctor!" into the hallway.  
She came towards him trying to grab his right hand which was still on the stitches.  
"Fuck off! Leave me alone!" He screamed as loud as possible while kicking his legs and throwing his arms around. Soon he was surrounded by medical personnel. They bound his right hand to the bed and gave him some injection which made him loose consciousness almost immediately.

When he woke again his arms and legs were tied to the bed, on seeing that tears of helplessness started to run. Why couldn't they leave him alone?  
It also was a different room, there was nothing else but his bed in it and the window was barred like in a prison. He couldn't quite care, he just wanted to be dead.  
Soon after he had woken the Doctor from the day before came in.  
"Good morning, Tom. How are you?"  
Again he rolled his head to the side looking away from her, ignoring her.  
"I've heard about the situation with your girlfriend. I'm really sorry. But I'm sure you'll find someone else, someone better. Do you think she's worth throwing away your life?"  
He stayed silent looking to the window.  
"Have you finished your exam paper yet? Or should we get you your stuff so you can finish it here?" No reaction. Gently she placed her hand onto his squeezing it lightly. He flinched and tried to pull it away but couldn't due to the fixation. "What are you studying?"  
Silently she sat there watching him, sometimes tears welled up in his eyes and he fought them back each time.   
Normally she hadn't any problems in separating her job from her feelings but with him she was struggling. Something about him made her heart hurt. Maybe it was because of his innocent look. With the blonde curly hair and the big blue eyes he almost looked like an angel.  
"Are you hungry? You must be. I'll just get you something. What do you want?"  
No reaction, he didn't even blink his eyes. 

After about ten minutes she came back in with a tray of food. She pulled out a foldable table from the side of the bed and put it down in front of him.   
"Will you behave if I open the fixations?"  
No answer, not even a hint of how he felt. She wasn't afraid of him, he surely wouldn't hurt her. But himself? She couldn't be sure about that. Nevertheless she slowly opened the bonds on his arms. It surely wasn't good for his ego if she tried to feed him.  
"There we go. You don't have to eat everything, just a bit. Okay?"  
This time his eyes moved and she could actually see he was hungry - at least a bit. But he quickly looked over to the window again. She sat back down watching him for a while. Maybe she should go out and leave him alone with the food. The fork was plastic so he couldn't cause much harm with that.   
"Try to eat, I'll come back later." Again she squeezed his right hand lightly smiling at him.

She was gone, finally. The food looked and smelled good and he was quite hungry but he wouldn't eat. No way. And they couldn't force him. Maybe he should try to piss off. He could easily reach the fastenings on his ankles but would he get far? Looking at the bars out the window he doubted it.   
Carefully he pressed his right hand onto the bandage where the cut would be underneath. Hissing at the sudden pain he pulled his hand back almost knocking the tea cup over. From one moment to the next he panicked, he needed to get out of there, now.  
Quickly he released his feet and swung them over the high boards framing the bed. But right when the first foot was over the door opened and the Doctor came back in.   
She looked at him slightly smiling. "Have to go somewhere?"  
"Toilet," he lied.  
"Sure. Wait a moment." She walked around the bed and lowered the side. 

Three days had gone by and he hadn't eaten or drunken a single bite. When he had been sleeping, they had fixed his arms again and placed an infusion in his arm once more to get at least some liquid into his body.  
Worried Doctor Russo glanced at the monitor showing his room. He had just woken and was now trying to free his arms. She still didn't know what it was that pained him so deeply, not even after having talked to his mum. She had called about half an hour ago asking how her son was.   
"Why don't you come here and we can talk in person?"  
"I'm afraid we'll be able to come next week the earliest."  
"Your son needs you."  
"He hasn't needed us in the last five years. He's the one who broke the contact." There were tears in her voice as she said that.  
"What happened?"  
"I don't quite know. He left us a message that he had gone to Cambridge by himself and we didn't have to pick him up. That was it. When I tried to call him the phone was off, no matter how often I tried it."  
That was interesting, but she was sure he had a good reason for this. "Why did he do that?"   
"No idea. He probably felt neglected. He wasn't too happy to go to that boarding school, even ran away one summer holiday."  
"Only because he didn't want to go there?" She couldn't believe that.  
"Yes, at least he never said otherwise. Oh, damn. I need to go. Sorry. I'll try to call again. Bye."  
She hung up before Doctor Russo could say anything.

Determined she stood up, grabbed a tray with food and went to his room. When she opened the door he was once more staring out the window. She knew he had trouble with sleeping, last night had been the roughest so far according to the nightshift. He had woken at three in the morning, drenched in sweat and screaming.  
"Good morning Tom. Sorry, we had to do this, otherwise your body would get too weak. And if you promise me you'll eat a bit I open the bonds."  
Ignoring her he kept staring out the window.  
"If you won't eat we'll have to insert a tube through your nose, down your throat into your stomach. Believe me, you don't want that."  
Waiting she sat there watching him. She had to try something else, that boy was not going to co-operate.  
"Tom, I've talked to your mum. She told me you broke the contact with your family. Would you tell me why?" Still no reaction, as expected. "Have your parents hit you when you were a child?" He took in a shaky breath, so she was getting closer. "Have you been a..."  
"FUCK OFF!"  
The pain and anger in his eyes told her everything but she doubted it had to do with his parents. He had surely felt like they should have protected him but didn't. That also explained why he had run away. Damn, this would be really tough.   
She stood up, it was better to leave him alone now but even before she made it to the door his tears started running.

Why couldn't they leave him alone? He hadn't had a single nightmare in years but now they were back. He knew the physical pain wasn't real but still it was there. In the dark room he had panicked. He thought he was back at school lying in one of his abusers’ bed and what had made the whole thing worse was that he couldn't move his arms. No!  
He had screamed as loud as he could, hoping that someone came to help him and yes the door opened and for a moment the frame looked like Mr. Gallagher. But then the light went on and he noticed relieved he was still in hospital.  
His body had been shaking until they gave him something and he calmed down again. The nurse dried his sweaty body and brought him fresh clothes and sheets.  
What had he done to deserve all this? Why did everybody he loved betray him?   
And now they wouldn't even let him die.   
His head was spinning. How did that woman even know about... No, he wouldn't even think about what had happened, never mind talk about it. No way! He had left that behind him, he even had a normal life. He had sex, normal sex. Had he been bad at it? Was that why she had betrayed him? She could have said something. He would have tried to change it, for her, for them.   
He remembered the first time they had made love. They just had finished working for the day and stood outside the back door of the restaurant smoking. They had kissed before and touched but he still had been so nervous. The other night he had slept in her bed with her cuddling they had exchanged soft kisses and the occasional touches.  
Grinning she had pulled a packet of condoms from her handbag. Dumbfounded he looked at it first not even knowing what it was. Reading the letters on the box his eyes had widened. Did she really want to sleep with him?  
Seeing his expression she giggled "So you are a virgin! Don't worry, I'll teach you."  
And she had. It had been okay for him to touch her intimately but every time she tried he had flinched at first. It had taken almost a year for him to be fine with being touched by her in his most sensible areas.  
He had found that he liked it, the sex. It felt so good bringing someone else pleasure - and of course having some yourself.  
He closed his still tearing eyes and thought about how he could get out of there and once he would be out he could kill himself, finally. The only way, he thought, was co-operating with that Doctor, at least a bit, convincing her that he was fine which surely wouldn't be easy.

He had slept a bit - luckily dreamlessly - and when he woke the sun was about to set. He had one of that horrible stomach cramps and he needed to pee. In the needle in his arm stuck a tube leading up to a bag with clear liquid.   
Tugging fiercely on the white belts around his wrists he tried to get them free. He wouldn't pee the bed, surely not. The door opened and a nurse came in. She didn't bother to speak just checked the infusion.   
"Please, I need to go to the toilet."  
"You've got a catheter in. Don't worry."  
"What?" When did that happen?  
"The Doctor said you'd be too weak to get up anyway."  
"Please, I don't want that."  
"I can't decide that. Let me see if Doctor Russo is still in."  
With that she left. His eyes wandered down his body to his crotch, he couldn't see anything it only felt a bit weird.  
A bit later Doctor Russo came in, not in her Doctor's clothes but a black dress and high heels. "Hello, Tom. How are you?"  
"Good. Please I want to get up a bit."  
"You're too weak. You need to eat something first."  
"And if I do can I go then?"  
Raising her brow she looked at him. "Go where, Tom?"  
"My flat."  
"Not right away, no. But if we make progress we'll see. Now I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow."  
With that she left but soon another nurse brought him something to eat. She unfastened his wrists and stayed by his side watching him. It was only a soup and he couldn't eat more than half of it but he did.

The next morning right after he had eaten a bit of porridge Doctor Russo came in.  
"Good morning, Tom. I hear you ate something, that's good. Are you feeling better?"  
"Yes. I know what I did was stupid but I just... It hurt so much."  
"I know. But was it really the only reason you did it?" That came quick; she knew that tactic due to years of experience. He tried to get out but if she let him she'd soon either have him back here or he would be down in the morgue.  
He was quiet staring down at his fingers. "It helps if you talk about it, believe me."  
Looking at her he had a sarcastic smile on the face.  
"Maybe we can talk just about normal stuff, first. What's your favourite colour?"  
"Blue."  
"Mine is red. Favourite music?"  
"Gosh, so much. Dylan, Stones, loads more."  
It went on like this for a while till she said out of the blue.  
"Why did you run away from home when you were a teenager?"  
His jaw dropped, how did she know that? Had he told her and forgotten it? His mum probably had told her.  
Right then her peeper went off. "Damn. Sorry, I have to go but I'll come back soon."

About two hours later there was a knock on the door and Doctor Russo came back in.  
"Tom, you've got a visitor. Is that okay?"  
"Who?"  
"Professor Branagh."  
His brows rose. What did he want here? How did he even know? He somehow had almost become like a father to him. Unsure he said "Okay."  
She turned and waved him in. The older man smiled widely at Tom.   
"How are you doing?" They shook hands and the professor sat down.   
Tom shrugged his shoulders looking slightly confused over at Doctor Russo who stood near the door leaning against the wall.  
"I've heard what happened from Lisa when she handed in her paper."  
Interested the Doctor watched him, he was ashamed. Good. That was a step in the right direction.  
"Tom, I understand it's hard but is she really worth throwing away your life? You've worked so hard over the last years. Do you want to throw all of that away? You'll find someone better. You're a great guy. And the job in London. You were so happy when you got that. And, unofficially speaking, I think your exam paper is bloody brilliant. You'll be fine without her, believe me. You owe it to yourself to keep going."  
Stunned Doctor Russo watched the change in his face from beaten up puppy to self-confident, good-looking young man in only a few minutes.   
"You're right Professor. I still want to do that job, move to London and, well, start new."  
Yes, Mr. Branagh was right: he absolutely owed it to himself. He had worked so hard for his Master degree. He couldn't throw that away. Fuck that bitch! He didn't need her, he didn't need anybody. Right then he made the promise to himself to never again let someone so close to him.  
"Call me Ken, now that the term is over and you'll graduate soon."  
"Okay." He threw his arms around the older man hugging him tightly and, believe it or not, smiling.

After the Professor had left Doctor Russo sat down next to him.  
"When can I go Doctor, please? I need to find a place to stay in London before the first."  
Grinning she looked at him "I think I'll keep you here for another three days and if I'm still certain I won't have you back soon then you can go. And I can get you a newspaper so you can start looking right away."

Three days later she signed his discharge papers and he shook her hand thanking her.  
"No problem. And Tom, I still think you should talk to someone. I've got you some addresses of colleagues in London. It helps. Believe me, you’ll feel better."  
Briefly nodding he took the paper, thanked her again and left.

***

The vibrating of his phone woke him. Damian.  
"What?" A bit harsh maybe but he felt like he had at least emptied a whole bottle of Whiskey last night.  
"I was just slightly worried? How did it go?"  
"Couldn't fall asleep till early morning. I'll tell you the rest later in my office. But not as bad as we thought."  
"Oh. That's great."  
"See you later."  
"Sure."  
He rolled out of bed, still naked he padded to the kitchen and made himself some coffee. That was what he needed: a strong black coffee.  
Cup in hands he opened the glass door to his terrace. Slowly he walked to the edge of the roof and looked down to the streets where people ran up and down looking like ants from up there.   
It was a nice sunny day but to him it always felt a bit like the sun was mocking him. He had always loved the rainy or foggy days more, no idea why.

After he had finished his coffee he took a quick shower, got dressed and took the private elevator down to his office. Knocking on Damian's door he greeted his friend and partner. They decided to order some food and talk about the previous night.

Tom had just informed him about what he had found out.  
"That's good news! It's good we decided not to include her in more. Speaking of, that's my favourite candidate for the secretary job."  
"God, she looks like she's out of one of these bad sitcoms. Those glasses."  
"Well, you said..."  
"Yes, I know. I can fuck her from behind if I feel the need."  
"Tom! You..."  
"Ehehehe. Just kidding. How is she like?"  
"Quite clever I’d say. Well, she's actually done time. Two years for armed robbery."  
"Her? No way."  
"Yeah, I called Mark and asked him to check her. Parents died when she was young, had some really hard time."  
"Yeah, whatever. We'll see if she can do the job. If not we still can kick her out."  
"Okay, good. I'll call her and tell her. Oh, and our delivery is on time. Maybe you want to call Ben."  
"Great. Tomorrow night?"  
"Yes."

Oh, yes. He had made it. All the way to the very top and all by himself!


	4. The First Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Andrea starts her new "job" and finds it very interesting

Monday morning came and Andrea was nervous somehow. She couldn't quite pinpoint why, but she was nevertheless. 

 

The biggest part of the day before she had spent with Michael and James at their secret place - a tiny flat rented under an imagined name who had some shit on his police file. Michael had brieved her again about Hiddleston telling her over and over again how dangerous he was. They had at least five murder victims which he had allegedly killed himself or hired someone to kill them. One of them was a drug baron in Liverpool, they had found his body with three fingers and some teeth missing plus showing more signs of torture. Of course they never had been able to proof anything.

"How did he even get to this?"  
"He worked for MCU import/export. The company was shut down about two years ago after the CEO had been convicted for murdering the Columbian ambassador here in London. They were involved in some major drug dealing. We're sure that's where Hiddleston learned his 'trade'."

"Watch this. It's the video where two of my colleagues questioned him after Miss Olsen had vanished. It took us over a week to get a hold of him. Watch."

He pressed some keys and on the screen before them a interrogation room appeared. Soon the door opened and an officer in uniform came in together with Hiddleston dressed in an expensive looking dark suit, the top buttons of his shirt open so his slight chest hair were visible.  
"Are you serious about this?" He gestured with big hands to the room.  
"I'm sorry Sir, I just do what I'm told. And the detectives told me to bring you in here."  
"Very well. I don't have anything to hide." His jaw clenched and Andrea thought 'Oh, yes, you do.'  
The officer left and Hiddleston paced up and down the small room. Then he stopped in front of the two-way mirror looking directly into the camera - at least it appeared like that. He ran his hands through his hair styling them. 

"We let him wait for as long as we dared. He's got contacts into the highest governmet positions," Michael explained. "We sort of wanted him to think we've got something on him."

After a while he started to look at his expensive Swiss watch every other moment.   
"Fucking pricks. As if I had nothing else to do."  
He finally sat down onto one of the chairs taking his phone out, he checked some mails and five minutes later he finally had enough. But instead of going for the door he dialed a number on his phone.  
"Hi, Rita. It's Tom. Is Mark in? - Thanks, darling." Right then the door opened and two detectives came in.   
"Mr. Hid..."  
He silenced him with a stern look and the rising of his index finger.  
"Hi, Mark. It's Tom. - Some of your man are waisting my time. First they weren't able to question me at my office and then they let me wait like some little criminal. - No, but they just came in. They can tell you their names themselves."  
With a smug grin he handed his mobile to the nearest officer. Looking confused he took it "Hello? - Superintendent Gatiss, Sir! - No, we just have some questions. - I'm DS Lincoln. - Yes, Sir..."

"He called superintendent Gatiss?" Andrea stared shocked at Michael "You're shitting me!"  
"No, that's why we have to keep this top secret. We don't even know how far his contacts reach."  
"But how can you be sure no one of the people involved is one of his contacts?"  
"Believe me, we know."  
Her focus went back to the screen.

DS Lincoln just handed the phone back apologising "Sorry for keeping you so long, Mr. Hiddleston. But we were called into a meeting on our way here."  
"Whatever." He snorted.  
"We only have some questions."  
"Which you couldn't ask me at my office like you did with my employees? I've got a business to run and my secretary is missing, as you very well know, so I have to do her shit as well!"

Yes, he was tough, dominant, not expecting any contradiction.

"We wanted to talk to you there last week but you weren't in."  
"As you surely know I have other clubs as well, not only the one in London. So what the fuck do you want from me?! I'm sure Mr. Lewis answered all the questions you had!"  
"Pretty much but we have some more. Mr. Lewis said you were the last one at your office who saw her. Is that true?"  
"Well, we worked the evening before till 7 pm to finish the reports for March. She left at about 7.15."  
"What did you do after that?"  
"Sat in my office and wanked off!" Both officers jaws as well as Andrea's and James' dropped, Michael only snorted.   
"What the hell does that have to do with her going missing?!"  
"We just want to recrea..."  
"I know you have her on your CCTV videos the next morning. So my evening has nothing to do with that."  
"We've talked to her family and they said you had a sexual relationship with her." Now his expression changed. Was that light shock? "Is that true?"  
Furrowing his brows he snarled "Yeah, we fucked occasionally but I wouldn't call that a relationship."  
"So, what did you do after she had left?"  
"I went upstairs, to the club, had a few drinks and went home. Alone, before you ask."  
"You weren't worried the next morning when she didn't show up?"  
"I had a meeting until 11 am. Afterwards I noticed she wasn't there and I tried to call her, several times. And in the afternoon as we still couldn't reach her and one of my security men checked her flat, we called you guys."  
"Okay, I guess that's it. Thank you for your co-operation Mr. Hiddleston. And sorry again for keeping you so long."  
"Whatever. DI Lincoln."

Michael turned the video off. "Believe it or not but a couple of days later both of them were degraded. So we have to be really careful, he knows the right - or better wrong - people."  
"Fuck. I'm not quite sure if all of this is a good idea." James looked worried first at Andrea then at Michael. He knew Andrea was good but he didn't quite want to put her to such a high risk.  
"We have to nail him and I want to help doing it!"  
"That's the right attitude. Let's check your 'spy glasses' again."

After another hour of checking that the camera and microphone in her glasses were working Andrea finally left for her flat leaving James and Michael alone.  
"Damn, Mike. I hope this works out. I really like that girl, I don't want her to get into trouble."  
"She's a MI6 agent. She will get into trouble sooner or later that's why she's been trained properly. Relax man, we keep our eyes on her all the time. Fancy a beer, mate?"  
"Sounds fantastic."

 

She had barely slept at night all the time worrying how everything would go down. Also she didn't want to disappoint; this was her chance and if she did well, she'd surely have a big career ahead of her.  
In the end the sun rose and she readied herself for her first day. She put on a black pencil skirt and a white blouse. She got her high heels on, grabbed her handbag and went for the door. Her hand was already on the doorhandle when she realised she had forgotten the most important: the glasses.   
They had agreed she would put them on at home already not to cause any attention when she activated the camera and microphone. She pressed the little button that turned it on. Damn, she really had to get used to that thing.  
Taking the tube to her new office she listened to some music which helped her calm down, but only temporarily. When she got off at her stop she could literally hear her heart beating in her ears.  
Entering the high-rise building she called for the elevator. In the building there were mostly offices but also a supermarket on the groundfloor, a restaurant in one of the top floors and, of course, the Saphire Lounge. She had seen some pictures online and it looked beautiful, no wonder the male customers enjoyed it. Naked girls dancing in front of the London skyline while you could have some drinks, she would enjoy that if she was a man.  
The elevator arrived and she pressed the button for the 11th floor. Soon the doors opened again and she went towards the security door of her new office.  
Like the week before she pressed the bell and waited for someone who would let her in.

It didn't take long and the door opened. A big guy in a tight black t-shirt with huge muscles opened. Hemsworth was his name if she remembered correctly.  
"Good morning. You must be Andrea. I'm Chris. Nice to meet you." He reached his hand out and she forced a smile onto her face shaking his hand. "Hi."  
"I hope it's okay to use your firstname. We all do."  
"Yeah, sure. No problem."  
"Great. Come in. I'll show you around."  
He motioned her to get in and she past him making sure her hair was out of the way. Right behind the entrance was that quite big room with two big black leather sofas and an elevator on the side which she hadn't noticed before.  
"That's our waiting room if we have guests." Chris explained.  
"You have a private elevator?"  
"It goes up to the club from the car park."  
"Oh."  
"This way." He led her down the hallway where she had been in Mr. Lewis' office the week before. He opened the first door on the right and a big kitchen with a dining area came into view.  
"We basically have our breaks here. Feel free to use everything. Coffee machine right there. Tom, Mr. Hiddleston drinks his coffee black and his tea with a splash of milk. So you know. Occasionally we cook together but that's quite the exception as we're quite busy."  
He turned and led her down the hallway. "Damian's office on the left as you will know. Toilets on the right." Further down the corridor there was a glass door open this time and they went straight towards it.  
"So, this will be your office from now on." They entered a huge room with a massive desk and lots of filing cabinets and other cabinets and shelves. To the right was another room separated by a wall of milk glass.  
From the window you could see the whole financial district of London. Fascinated she stared out of the window, then in the corner of her eye she caught sight of a small security camera in the upper right corner between the wall and the window.  
Fuck! That ment she had to be extremely careful about what she was doing and probably also saying.  
"I don't quite know what your job exactly will be but I'm sure Tom will tell you that as Damian isn't around for a couple of days." With that he went to the door in the milk glass wall and knocked. A deep velvety voice, she had heard the day before, answered in a harsh tone. "What?!"  
"He's quite nice. Believe me." Had he caught her flinching at the sound of their boss' voice.   
Slowly he opened the door revealing another huge room, an even bigger one than her office. In the middle right before the panorama window stood the desk where her new 'boss' was sitting, phone pressed to his ear. He was dressed in a grey suit with a silver tie, looking super hot.

 

 

On the left wall stood a comfortable looking sofa and on the right was a big cabinet and a bookshelf.  
"Yes, I know. But that's not what we arranged." Hiddleston sounded angry. "Listen! You're not the only supplier in London. If you don't get your asses going and deliver by four in the afternoon, I'll have to find someone new for all my clubs! Got that!" He finally noticed her and waved her over motioning her to sit down in one of the leather chairs in front of his desk. Chris nodded briefly at her and left. She smiled at him and then focused on Hiddleston again who was rolling his eyes bugged out.   
"Well, if you know you can't make it by four then I'll look for someone else immediately. No problem. I'll just sent you an e-mail cancelling our business relations immediately. Thanks for t..." His voice sounded totally calm now even his exterior looked more bored than anything else. "Oh, I see. Well, in that case you have a last chance not to disappoint me. Good day."  
With that he hung up muttering "Fucking incapable prick" then looked at Andrea and his face changed. A huge smile spread over his face as he stood up and came round the table. That was when she felt her heartbeat pick up. That smile. OMG!  
He stood before her and she got up as well, her knees feeling like jell-o. "Hello. So you are the new secretary?"  
"Yes. I'm Andrea Riseborough. Nice to meet you, Sir." He shook her hand, his long fingers wrapping around hers.  
"My pleasure. I'm Tom Hiddleston, but just Tom's fine. Is it okay for you if I call you Andrea?"  
"Yes, of course." She felt herself swooning a bit and slapped herself inwardly for it. He was a criminal after all. Allegedly, a voice inside her reciprocated.  
He went back behind his desk and gestured her to sit down again.  
"I'll just create your own account so you can start working right away. Things have piled up a bit since... your predecessor vanished."   
"Vanished?" Andrea played the innocent little secretary.  
"Yeah, didn't show up one day. The cops have no clue where she went."  
"Oh."  
"So, okay. Let's go over to your office. I'll show you what you have to do."  
As he got up again Andrea caught a glance of the buldge in her boss' pants. Stinking rich but no money for underwear, she thought.  
They went back to her office where he pulled her chair out for her and motioned her to sit. Once she sat he leaned over and turned on the computer brushing his chest against her shoulder. Catching his scent she inhaled deeply feeling her panties slightly dampen. Again she slapped herself for doing so. He was dangerous, very dangerous after all.

The screen before her came to life, a window opened requesting username and password.  
"Your username is Andrea_R, the a and r in capital letters. And the password is k-n.e!e:l?, you can change that right away to whatever you like."  
"Okay." Kneel? Seriously?! She changed it and then the desktop came into view.  
He explained her that she had to enter the figures of the earnings from the club into an extra developed software, she would find the figures daily in her e-mail account and at the end of each months they would create a balance. Once she was used to the whole prosess she could do it every week he told her. Then he opened another programm which showed their orders and deliveries.   
"See that. We ordered ten crates of Whiskey three weeks ago and they haven't been delivered. Last night they opened the last bottle. That's what the phone call earlier was about.  
I guess I have to look for a new supplier.  
Anyway, you're job will also be to have an eye on this and if the delivery takes longer than three days, tell me. Plus have an eye on the stock in the club. You have those here.  
If the number gets critical the item will be red. That never should happen. Never. As before it'll be red it's yellow already, like Guinness is at the moment. Tell me or Damian at the moment if that is the case. Later you can place the orders yourself but I don't want to overwork you. Everything clear so far?"  
"Yes."  
"No questions?"  
"Not that I can think of."  
"Good. Then you can start with the figures. Damian managed to put them in till last Monday, so start from there. If you need help just call for me. Press that button on the phone and you'll be right on my phone."  
"Okay, thank you."  
"Coffee or tea, Andrea?"  
"Coffee, please."  
"Milk or sugar?"  
"Both, please. Loads of milk and one sugar."  
"Coming right up."  
With that he disappeared down the hallway. It was really hard to believe he was a criminal, he was so charming and that smile... Fuck! The last thing she needed was to fall for him. 

He came back with two mugs of coffee a while later. Placing hers in front of her he sat on the edge of the table next to her, his legs spread. Involuntarily her eyes wandered to his crotch again.  
"How is it going?"  
Feeling caught she stammered "Ahm, not...not too bad...I'd say."  
"Good. I'll be in my office if you need anything." He winked at her and left. FUCK!!!

 

Tom grinned to himself, it surely wouldn't take long and he would have her bend over his desk ramming his cock into her. Good!

 

Andrea soon came to the conclusion even a monkey could enter those figures and that there was nothing conspicuous about them. However, it took ages to enter the figures in the right field. Couldn't they do that automatically?  
Tom had shown up by her desk again at one o'clock asking if she was hungry as he was ordering something. About half an hour later they were sitting at the dining table in the kitchen eating Chinese food.  
"How is everything going?"  
"Good. I'm already at Thursday."  
"Great. I know it's fucking boring and we are actually working on a software that will automatically put the figures in but it doesn't quite work yet."  
"Hmm. How long have you been running the club already?"  
"A bit over five years."  
"Wow, and from what I can tell by the figures it's running quite well."  
"Yeah, I can't complain. We're actually planning to open more, all over Europe."  
"Cool. Would you maybe give me a tour of the club some time?"  
"Sure. Has to be before we open though. As after that all girls run about topless."  
"But I'm not working there."  
"Well, the only girls in the club work there, so..." He smiled at her and winked, ogling her covered chest.  
"Fine. But no hurry. Whenever you've got time."  
"So, Damian told me you've done time. How was that?"  
Staring shyly at her knees she said "Horrible. I absolutely wouldn't want to go back."  
"What were you in for?"  
"Armed robbery."   
Chuckling he rose his brow "That's kind of hard to believe, darling. I mean you don't look like the criminal type at all."  
Neither do you, she thought. "Why because I wear glasses and don't have any tatoos?"  
"I guess. Wasn't sure about the tatoos though." Another insinuating wink in her direction and it somehow worked. Despite everything she knew about him she felt her panties get more and more wet. "You know how to shoot?"  
"No, wh... I didn't have a gun. Just a knife."  
"A knife?!" He gave her a look saying 'how stupid's that'.  
"I know. But I was hungry. I just wanted something to eat."  
"Fair enough. And now you're a good girl." Again he made it sound dodgy. If they couldn't convict him for something else then definitely for sexual harassment at work.  
She blushed lightly and nooded.  
"What a pity. Do you ha..." The ringing of his phone interrupted him. He pulled his mobile from his pocket, apologised and left her alone. They had finished eating already so she cleaned up a bit and returned to her dull work.

At about 3.30 pm a woman came into her office. Andrea stared shocked at the woman's outfit. WTF?!  
 

 

"Hi, I'm Rosario." The woman smiled brightly at her and held her hand out.  
"Andrea, nice to meet you." She could literally see two men at the other end of town staring at their screen, mouth agape.  
"Is the boss in?"  
"Yes. Should I..."  
"Don't worry. He'll be happy to see me." She winked at Andrea and went over to Tom's office door in impossible high heels. She knocked twice and then went in. Andrea only heard Tom saying something like "what a welcome distraction".  
She shook her head briefly and focused back on her computer. But only until she heard a loud scream from the other side of the door. She almost jumped onto her feet, automatically reaching for her non-existing gun and headed for the door when she realised there were more, well, not screams but groans and moans.   
She wasn't stupid and immediately knew what was going on. Her head turned crimson because of the animalistic sounds from the other office.

 

Tom had a slight headache, the delivery of the Whiskey wasn't here yet and if it wouldn't be soon he had to sent someone to buy some in the store. Which would be way too expensive. But an evening at the club without Whiskey? No way!   
After an interesting lunch Ben had called. First he was a bit pissed off because hadn't he called he was sure Andrea would have wanted a ride - so to speak. She even had been chewing her bottom lip already.  
It wasn't really about the sex for him, it was more the chase he enjoyed and he was proud to say he usually had the girls ready to sleep with him in less than a day.  
But when Ben told him that he sold almost all the cocaine at the weekend his mood improofed significantly. And they agreed to celebrate a little in the evening.  
He also arranged more to be delivered to Ben that very evening and went back to look for a new supplier for the beverages at the club. Finally he settled on three companies and sent them each an e-mail requesting an offer.  
Feeling good about the start of the week he thought about how he should best proceed to get under Andrea's skirt when a knock on the door startled him. Looking over to the door a huge grin spread across his face when he saw Rosario enter.  
"Look who's there. What a welcome distraction."  
She closed the door and came over to him swaying her hips seducingly.  
"I've missed you, Sir."  
Licking his lips he took in her outfit. The view before him went straight to his cock even before she shoved down her top and reached behind herself to unclasp her bra. He quickly stood up discarding his jacket and walked her backwards to the bookshelf.   
Once her back was firmly pressed against it he loosened his tie and bound her wrists together securing them on a small hook above them. He took her hot-pants down, let her step out of them and then lifted her right leg onto his shoulder.  
She was so bendy which he absolutely loved. Unzipping his own pants he pulled his erection free and rammed into her which caused her to scream loudly. Oh, yes.  
He pounded into her over and over again till the both of them were moaning in unision. He rolled her peaking nipples between his fingers roughly while his hips thrust back and forth. She was so fucking tight. Damn.  
He had fucked nearly every girl who worked for him repeatedly. The first time usually followed their job interview and demostration of their skills.  
As he felt her coming around him he wondered if Andrea heard them. Probably yes, because Rosi wasn't exactly the quiet type. He thrust a couple of more times into her clenching pussy before he came inside her.  
Still heavily panting he fixed his pants, loosened the tie on her wrists and whispered into her ear "Absolute pleasure, as always."  
She smiled at him while getting dressed again. "Will you come up tonight?"  
"Not sure yet."  
"Hope to see you later." She stuck a finger into her still naked pussy and licked their combined juices off. "Hmm. Not bad."  
This made his cock twitch in his pants again and he wished he could keep fucking her for the rest of the night.  
Grabbing her hot-pants and bra she slowly dressed and waved at him when she turned to leave.  
"Oh, Rosi. You could do me a favour. Take Andrea upstairs and show her the club."  
"The new secretary? Does she want two jobs?"  
"No, she just wants to check it out, I guess."  
"No problem, Tom. Look forward to seeing you again. Soon."  
Giving him an air kiss she left.

 

About 12 miles away across town Michael and James stared at their screen as soon as Rosario entered the room. "Fuck!" Michael hissed.  
Their eyes were fixed on the screen following her every move then she disappeared into Hiddleston's office. "Lucky son of a bitch." Michael looked really jealous now.  
"Maybe you should call Andrea and arrange a blind date." James teased while pouring fresh coffee into their cups.  
They both just sipped their first gulp when a scream startled them. "What the..." James looked at Michael, they followed Andrea getting up and going towards the door. Tense Michael took another sip then the moans started and he spit his coffee across the room.  
"You know, I hate that prick more with every second!"

 

Andrea tried to distract herself while the sex noises kept going louder and louder which wasn't good for the state of her panties. Especially his low growls added to her soaking the fabric. Luckily the noise had stopped in the end but too late for her undies. God, that last moan of his when he obviously had come. Fucking hell! She imagined what his face would look like in that moment.   
Inhaling deeply she tried to calm her racing pulse down again when the door opened and Rosario came back out, an even bigger smile on her face then when she went in.  
"Tom said you wanted to see the club?"  
"Yes, I'd love to."  
"Then come on, I'll give you a tour."  
"Fantastic, thanks."  
She got up and the two women silently went down the hall to the elevator. Once in Rosario turned towards her.  
"Are you feeling uncomfortable because I've just slept with Tom or is it because you wanted to be in my stead?"  
"Gosh. I don't want to sleep with him! He's my boss, after all." Rosi had to smile as that didn't sound very convincing.  
The elevator opened and the first thing that drew Andrea's attention were the huge floor to ceiling windows giving a fantastic view over the city. Every single landmark was visible from here. The club stretched over the whole floor, in the middle there was a huge bar where some girls cleaned glasses and restored the shelfs with bottles of alcohol. All over the bar were little stages, some with poles in them, surrounded by black leather seats and on the backside of the bar was a huge stage where some more girls spun around poles or stretched their limbs.  
Andrea's mouth went agape on seeing that huge space.  
"You know he's our boss too, but nearly every girl in here has fucked with him." She winked at Andrea and led the way towards the bar. The red headed woman there just turned to get another bottle as she saw them.  
"Hey, Rosi. Who are you dragging in? A new dancer?"  
"Oh, no, Jess. She's the new secretary. Andrea that's Jessica, she's the boss behind the bar."

 

 

They shook hands and exchanged the usual phrases as the music started playing louder and some girls started cheering.   
"Oh, you've got to see this. Come on." They hurried round the bar just to see a young blond girl entering the stage swaying her hips seducingly.  
"That's Jennifer. She's one if the best dancers if not the best."

 

  
The girl was wearing a bright blue push-up bra with gem stones on it and long white pants. She spun around some poles, once even throwing her legs up and sliding down it till her hands and head touched the floor. The girls started clapping and howling at her as she did the splits and jumped back up to her feet. Then she tore the pants off in one motion leaving her in a blue thong the same colour as the bra. Andrea had to giggle imagening James' and Michael's faces.  
"Are you all wearing those colours?"   
"Sure. That's why it's called the Saphire Lounge."  
The squeeking of the girls drew her attention back to the stage only to see she had just thrown her bra into the crowd and was now topless, her nipples covered by some blue glitter.  
"Damn, if I was a guy I'd spent every night here."  
Rosi chuckled "That's what some guys do. Come on I show you the private lounges."

They went over into a corner where small booths were. She opened the door to one and they went in. After the door had been closed it was almost silent in here, the music from outside barely a whisper.  
"Cosy, isn't it?"  
"Yeah. Lovely."  
"Why don't we sit down for a bit?"  
Andrea couldn't quite see why but did nevertheless "Okay."  
"Coming back to my question from earlier. It's fine if you want to sleep with him. He's got that affect on women. And he knows it."  
"I..." Andrea began to protest but Rosario interrupted her.  
"Do you have a boyfriend? Is that it?"  
"No. But..."  
"Then where is the problem. If you want to have a bit of fun with having mindblowing sex, that's your chance. He's a good guy, don't worry. He won't walk around swaggering with his conquest. I only know because the other girls talk about it."  
"I don't want him! That's it!"  
"Are you a lesbian?"  
"NO!"  
"Well,you can keep lying to yourself but let me tell you, you won't regret it. And who ever said size doesn't matter never had a guy with a really big..."  
"Okay, okay, okay! I get it. Can we talk about something else."  
"Are you afraid he'll hurt you?"  
"No. Plea..."  
"Jenny, you know the girl on the stage, she used to work in one of those awful clubs where they had to get completely naked and the guys were touching them all the time. One evening she was on her way home and Tom pulled up next to her offering her a lift. She thought he was a pervert first, but then he offered her a job here. We included her in our team and, like you, she was always so shy when we talked about sex. Turned out she still was a virgin. And she finally had enough of it. So she went down to Tom telling him she wanted him to take her virginity.   
He didn't do it, not right away anyway. On her next day off he came to her flat, they had dinner and did it. He stayed over all night making it something special. How sweet is that?!"  
Andrea swallowed being aware that everything she said could be heard by her two colleagues, so she decided to move the conversation in a diffrent direction. "Nice. Are the guys here not allowed to touch the girls then?"  
"No. That's one of the rules here. No touching, except the girl allows it and gets paid for it although it's generally not allowed on the fabric covered bits, if you know what I mean."  
"Right."  
"Actually the other day one of those aristocrats thought the rule doesn't apply to him and pulled a girl onto his lap pressing his hand between her legs. Tom was at the bar and then right there even before the security guys.  
They accompanied him to his car and I'm sure we won't see him here again. He's quite a gentlem..."  
"Who are you talking about?" The door opened and Tom came in a tumbler with Whiskey in hand.  
"Finally our delivery has arrived." He said noticing Andrea's glance. "What do you say? Do you like it?"  
"Yeah, it..."  
"She actually said if she was a guy she would be here every evening."  
"Ehehehe. Well, if you want you can have a part time job here?" Winking at her he stared at her tits. Luckily the door flew open and the girl from the stage earlier came in throwing herself at him.  
"Hi, Tom." Sitting down onto his left foot she wrapped her arms around him and kissed his cheek. Her almost naked body was covered in a thin silk robe hardly hiding anything.  
"Hi, darling. Did you miss me?"  
"Always." Andrea watched her rubbing her knee against his crotch. He reached for his drink and took a sip.  
"How about a threesome." She suggested, then she looked over her shoulder at Andrea "Or foursome?"  
Rising his brow he looked first at her then at the other two women while his hand wandered beneath the robe squeezing her tit.  
Shaking her head lightly Andrea stood up "I have to go back to work."  
"Yes, because your boss is an asshole." Tom chuckled. "What if he lets you out earlier today?"  
She didn't respond just stormed out the door.   
"I'll pass as well. Thanks." Rosi stood and followed Andrea while Tom shrugged his shoulders, discarded Jenny's robe and began licking and sucking at her now bare chest.

"Andrea, wait."  
She spun around, an expression of anger on her face. "What?!"  
"What's going on?"  
"Well, that was absolutely anti-feministic! How can you not feel offended by that?"  
"Come on. Don't be stupid! I'm sure it would have been good fun." Andrea continued to walk towards the elevator. "Where are you going?"  
"Back to my desk."  
"Well, if Tom had his first drink he won't go back to his office which means you won't either. He even brought your stuff up."  
Turning her head around she saw Rosario gesturing to her bag and jacket which sat on the bar. Even angrier she stormed over there to get her stuff and leave. Once there Jessica turned and set a glass of champagne before her.  
Confused Andrea looked at her. "The boss said you should stay here and wait for him. On the house."  
"No, thanks."  
"Very well, it's not me you're offending."  
"I don't want to wait till he's done shagging! Fuck!"  
What an idiot! She only hoped it wouldn't take too long to get him into prison otherwise she might as well kill him if he kept behaving like that. Or was she annoyed that her body sort of wanted him despite everything she knew about him.  
"Come on, you can drink champagne while waiting and we can talk."  
"Fuck it!" She slumped down onto one of the stools and nipped at her glass.  
"Much better. Why didn't you stay in there Rosi?"  
"I already had my fun today. Can't dance properly if I'm sore."  
"Well, but you can never get enough of the Conda!" Both women giggled while Andrea looked dumbfounded.  
"What the hell are you talking about?!" Did she really want to know that? Probably not!  
"That's the nickname for his..."  
"Stop, I can guess!"  
"God, Jess remember that threesome right on the stage. Fuck!"  
"Oh, yes!"

Andrea tried to ignore them thinking about the day so far. The job itself was quite boring and not much of a challenge. She also was worried about the security camera in her office. So far that had been the only one she detected but that didn't mean it was the only one. She wasn't sure if it was legally okay but if she protested against it, she would surely cause attention - unwanted attention.  
Maybe they could hack into the system and manipulate the cameras and use them to their advantage.

"Andrea?" Both women looked curiously at her.  
"What? Sorry. I was miles away."  
"We noticed that."  
"Sorry. What did you say?"  
"I asked if you want to try pole-dancing? I can show you some moves."  
"Oh, no. Thanks."  
"You don't have a boyfriend you want to surprise?"  
"No." Only now she noticed that Rosario had taken off her top, using something like a sharpy, she began to paint her nipples.  
"What? Never seen naked tits?"  
"No. I mean yes, but it's still kind of...weird."  
"Do you need a hand, darling?" Suddenly Hiddleston appeared behind her wrapping his arms around her waist while glancing over her shoulder. Andrea watched him licking his lips, his hands slightly massaging the underside of her bare breasts which caused an all too familiar throbbing between her legs. Damn, she wanted him! But no fucking way, he was a criminal after all.   
Somehow he seemed to sense her discomfort and stopped. He took a seat next to her motioning to Jessica to refill his glass.  
"And? What do you think?"  
"It's really nice. And great view."  
"Nice? You know they say that nice is the little brother of shit?!"  
Giggling lightly she shook her head. "I quite like it, actually. Looks really good."  
"Great. How was your first day? I hope not too boring. But it will get more interesting after a while, I promise." He downed his drink in one and looked at her expectantly.  
"Well, it was okay. A bit boring, yes - but not too much."  
"Good. Do you want a lift home?"  
She almost automatically replied that she would take the tube but then something Michael had said came to her mind. They had no idea which car he was driving to be able to follow him around town, so it might be a good idea to find out.  
"Well, I normally take the tube."  
"I want to go to a friends anyway, so you don't have to go by the packed tube."  
"You don't even know if my flat is on the w..."  
"You live in Whitechapel, don't you?"  
"Yes?!" Should she be worried about him knowing that?  
"Which is directly on my way to Stratford."  
"Okay, then. That's really lovely. Thank you."  
"Then let's go."  
"Should you really be driving after two Whiskeys?"  
"After two tiny glasses? Come on!" He got up hugging Rosi and Jess briefly before they walked towards the elevator. They got in and he held a key card to a sensor then pressed the button for the underground parking lot.  
"Everything okay? You seem a bit, well, nervous."  
"All good."

 

A couple of miles away Michael and James sat in front of their monitors still struggling for control over their bodies after their 'visit' to the strip club.  
"What a prick!" Michael hissed, with every moment he felt more revulsion for Hiddleston.  
They watched them get into the elevator and heard him ask "Everything okay? You seem a..." and then there was neither a sound nor a picture on their screen.  
"Fucking shit! What's going on? Why did she agree to go with him in the first place?" James was jumping up from his seat, completely worried about Andrea.  
"She thought we might find out about his car. She's clever and the signal probably disappeared because they are in the underground car park. Relax man!"  
"If something happened to her I first kick your ass and then his! Fuck."  
"What are you doing?"  
"Calling her!"  
"No fucking way! Wait for a couple of minutes and if there's still no sign, then go ahead! We can't risk her defilade!"  
"Damn."  
"How long have you been doing this now? How could you survived so far?"  
"I know, I know. She's just very important to me, okay?!"  
Chewing his nails he sat back down and waited.

 

Relieved Andrea inhaled deeply when they finally stepped out of the elevator. The tension had been almost unbearable. Tom stepped past her heading for one of the five Jaguars standing before them.  
Astound she couldn't quite believe what she saw. Five cars, all of them brand new, at least they looked like it, all black with red and black leather seats. She definitely had the wrong job!  
She made sure to look at the license plates so Michael and James could see them and then walked towards the F-Type where Tom held the door open for her.  
He quickly ran around and got behind the wheel starting the engine. Soon they were off and drove fast through the narrow streets of London.  
“Nice car.”  
“Thanks. I love driving it. Do you own a car?”  
“No. But in London you don't necessarily need one.”  
“True.”  
Doing some small-talk they made their way through the streets.

Before she quite noticed they pulled up in front of her apartment building. She was about to get out.  
“Andrea, I hope I didn't make you feel to uncomfortable. If I did I apologise unreservedly. It's just how I am. Sorry.”  
Her heart was melting even more than it had already.  
“It's okay. Thanks for the lift. See you tomorrow.”  
“Good.” He actually sounded relieved. “Have a great evening.”  
“You too. Bye. And thanks again.”  
“My pleasure, darling.”  
She stood at the curb and watched behind him almost screeching. Her panties were a mess by now.  
Maybe they were wrong after all and he was just a normal business man managing a club.


	5. Suspicion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tom has a suspicion about Andrea and tries to find out the truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, this has nothing to do with the real people!

Tom watched her in the rearview mirror as she finally turned and walked towards the building. There was something about her that didn't seem right though. First he had no idea what it was exactly but it kind of felt like she was playing someone else.  
The ringing of his mobile interrupted his trail of thoughts.   
"Hello?"  
"Hey Tom. It's Damian."  
"Oh, hey. How are things down there?"  
"Great. They'll deliver within one week after we ordered. At least they say so."  
"Okay. Tell them we want a sample delivery before we sign anything."  
"Right. How much do you think?"  
"The usual. We have to be sure they can deal with that amount without problems."  
"Yes, alright, boss. How's the new secretary?"  
"Okay, I guess and don’t call me that. You had her checked, right?"  
"Sure. Why?"  
"I don't quite know. Something's off with her."  
"Well, Strong checked her - as usually."  
"Good. But maybe I'll call Gatiss. Just in case."  
"Do you trust him? I mean he’s the fucking superintendent of the London police."  
"Don't worry. He can't afford to annoy me."  
"God, Tom. Where have you caught him?"  
"You don't want to know. Believe me. Oh, by the way, our new product was a full success. Ben sold the whole stuff already."  
"What? Since Friday?"  
"Yeap. Just going over to see him."  
"Great. Greet him from me."  
"I will. See you on Thursday then."  
"Yes. See you."

He hung up and a few minutes later pulled into Ben's driveway. He wasn't even quite out of the car when the front door flew open and a little boy came running towards him.  
"Uncle Tom! Uncle Tom!"  
"Hey my little mate! How are you?" Smiling he lifted the three-year-old boy up from the ground bringing him to eye-level.  
"Great. But I've missed you."  
"I've missed you, too."  
"Junior! How many times?!" Ben's wife Sophie stuck her head out and looked absolutely furious.  
"I just wanted to say 'hi' to uncle Tom."  
Grinning he walked towards her the pouting child in his arms.  
"Hi Soph. Good to see you?"  
"Hi Tom. Ben's not here yet." She had never liked him in contrary to her son.  
"Well, I can wait outside for him."  
"Don't be ridiculous. And the little one here would possibly kill me."  
He set the boy down on the floor who immediately reached for his hand and he tugged him inside after him. "You have to play with me. Daddy bought me a robot dinosaur!"  
"Wow." Tom followed quickly after him, pulling off his shoes he followed his little godson to his playroom. Yes, the child had an own playroom!

Smiling Sophie watched the two running into the house and when Tom bent down to take off his shoes she involuntarily licked her lips. She had always pretended she didn't like him but on the inside she kind of fancied him actually. And when she watched him play with Ben Junior it was even harder to resist him and his charm which was why she tried to stay as far away from him as possible.  
She was happy with Ben and didn't want to risk that. However, there was also a part of her that yelled at her to let that man into her house as she knew exactly with what sort of deals he and her beloved husband were involved. First he didn't want to tell her but she had caught a piece of conversation between the two of them and had asked Ben so long till he finally told her everything. Of course she later wished he hadn't.   
Tom was dangerous and surely involved in more than just the drug deals he did with her husband but the less she knew about that the better.   
Shaking her head lightly she turned and walked to the kitchen to make dinner.   
She had just started to cut some veggies when the door flew open and her little angel came running in giggling uncontrollably.  
"Mummy. Mummy. Uncle Tom can make dinosaur noises." A light squeal escaped him when they heard strange noises from the hallway. Moments later Tom stuck his head into the kitchen door making Velociraptor noises and moves which made her giggle as well.  
Junior turned and ran past him as fast as he could disappearing down the hall, laughing all the time. Tom glanced after him and smiling turned his head towards her. "Do you need help?"  
"No. Go play with Benny."  
His facial expression turned from lightly amused to serious. "I know you don't like me and I have no idea why. So if you don't want me to be here then just tell me and I'll leave. Okay?"  
Dumbfounded she looked at him. She had always tried to stay as neutral as possible, so how did he know? "Am I that hostile to you?"  
"Not hostile. Just...reserved, I guess."  
"Sorry. It's just... I'm scared a bit I guess. About someone finding out what you two are up to."  
Now Tom looked dumbfounded "He has told you?"  
"I caught a phone conversation between you and asked him what it was about. And he told me then."  
"Damn. He shouldn't have. You haven't told anyone, have you?"  
"No, of course not. I don't want my husband to end up in prison."  
"Good. And pl..."  
"Where are you uncle Tom?"  
"Right with you pal." He smiled at her again and finally turned to go and play with Ben Junior.

About half an hour later the door to the playroom opened and Benedict looked in. A huge smile spread when he saw his son playing with his best friend - well one of his best friends.  
"Hello, you two."   
"Daddy!" The boy ran to his father throwing his hands around him and hugging as hard as he could.  
"Uncle Tom makes funny dinosaur noises, daddy."  
"Does he?" Ben rose his eyebrow and looked at his friend. And Tom was only too happy to be the performing monkey for them.   
"You watched Jurassic Park too many times my friend!" Ben reached out his hand and pulled Tom to his feet, they hugged briefly and Ben whispered "Let's go to my office and talk business for a bit."  
"Sure."  
"Go and help your mom in the kitchen Junior."  
"But I want to play with uncle Tom!" The boy crossed his arms stubbornly and looked pouting at his father.  
"No discussion. We have some adult things to talk about anyway. And now go."  
Looking angry at his dad he walked down the hallway towards the kitchen. Grinning Ben and Tom looked after him and eventually moved towards Ben's office.  
Once in Tom sat down into one of the leather arm chairs rolling the sleeves of his shirt back down. "Want a drink, mate?"  
"Always."  
"Ice?"  
"Yes, please."  
Ben poured them each two fingers of Scotch and handed one glass to Tom.  
"Cheers."  
"Cheers, mate." Ben took the seat facing Tom and they both drank. "When can you get more of that stuff?"  
"Damian's working on it. If everything works out we'll have it for the weekend."  
"Great. People are crazy for that shit, although I don't quite understand why. I've never tried it. You?"  
"Meth? No. The only drug I need is a good whiskey."  
"Is it really that lucrative or are you just fooling me?"  
"No. They charge 1000 Pounds for 100 gram and we can, in the right circles, sell it for at least double. So forget cocaine."  
"Do I want to know where you get it?"  
"Well, I could tell you but it's better that you don't know. Just in case." He lifted his glass again and they took another gulp. 

For a while they just sat in silence finishing their drinks. Tom's phone rang and raising his brow he looked onto the display.  
"Chris? What's up?"  
"Julie just called, she wants to get a doctor for you know who."  
"What? Why?"  
"Looks like some suitor used her quite roughly."  
"Call Eddie. He owes me something. But bring him there yourself. And blindfold him."  
"Marsan?! You sure?"  
"Yes! And now do what I've told you. Oh, and find out who it was."  
"Yes. Of course."  
He hung up sighing without waiting for a response.  
"Trouble in paradise?"  
He just raised his brows and shook his head. What a day!  
"Ben Junior admires you, you know." Tom just nodded briefly. "Have you ever thought about having a family yourself?"  
A sting went through his heart when he thought about Elisabeth and how he had felt for her. And somehow he knew then that he would never have what Ben had and he envied him for that. "Not really."  
"You’re really good with kids. You really should think about that."  
He only grunted and almost wanted to get up and leave without staying for dinner but his friend had invited him and he didn't want to be rude. 

After dinner he helped Sophie to clean up while father and son played in the living room. Watching them suddenly it felt like something was cutting off his air and he quickly went to the bathroom where tears finally ran down his face. He had never experienced that much love from anybody. Not his parents, not his girlfriends, no one. Why? Was he that bad a person? Did he not deserve even a bit of love?  
No! He wasn't crying! Never! He was too strong for that! He washed his face and went back out clenching his jaw. He would go home and drink some more before falling into bed.  
"Thanks for the invitation. It was really lovely."  
"Don't go uncle Tom!"  
"I have to, pal. And I think it's time for bed for you anyway!"  
"No."  
"See you my friend." He went down into his knees to be eye-level with him and they hugged, the little boy not wanting to let go, started crying.  
"I don't want you to go uncle Tom."  
"Oh. Maybe you can visit me next time? How's that?"  
"Yes!" He kissed the top of the boy's head and stood back up.   
"See you Soph. And dinner was delicious, thanks."  
"Thank you. Bye Tom."  
Ben stood up from the sofa and saw his friend out.  
"I'll call you as soon as I've got the stuff."  
"Great. See you man." They hugged briefly before Tom got into his car and drove back towards the city.

*****

As soon as Andrea stepped through her door she took off the glasses and turned the camera and microphone off. She hadn't even placed them on the dresser next to her keys when her phone rang already.  
"Hi, guys. Did you get that?"  
"Hi Andrea. Perfect. Well done." Michael praised her.  
"Are you nuts to let him bring you home?!" James sounded concerned and worried. "I nearly had a heart attack when you were in that lift with him and the camera went off!"  
"What?! You mean you didn't see what was in the underground parking lot?!"  
"No. What?" Michael's voice sounded interested and worried at the same time.  
"There were five, I repeat five different cars. Damn, I didn't even think about remembering the type and license plates because I thought you saw them. Fuck!"  
"Don't worry. At least we got one. Was there anything else?"  
"No, not really."  
"Did he really shag that girl in his office?!"  
"Michael!"  
"What?!"  
Andrea chuckled at the thought of their faces "So you enjoyed that part. And the club, obviously."  
"Oh, come on, Andy. I'm a married man."  
"Yes, we did. Both of us." Now Michael was chuckling as well.  
"The office looks clean. Can't sniff around too much as long as that security camera is there though."  
"Yeah, we saw that. Maybe we can hack it somehow. Until then be very careful."  
"Yes, guys. Anything else?"  
"No. Good job so far Andrea."  
"Thanks Mike. See you guys."  
"Bye Andy, have a good evening."

They hung up and Andrea went to her bedroom to change into her sports clothes. She went to the gym and worked out for about an hour. Afterwards she ran home and showered. She just washed her hair as Tom’s low animalistic growl came back to her mind when he had obviously orgasmed. Only from that thought her walls clenched. Next thing she knew she was touching herself thinking about the bulge in his pants. Those impossible long fingers, his ass and, fuck, those incredible blue eyes. OMG!  
It didn't take long and she climaxed at the thought of being bend over her new boss' desk while he fucked her from behind. Shit! 

She had dinner and watched some telly before going to bed. But she tossed and turned from one side to the other, the thought of him touching her sending wave after wave of inappropriate thoughts through her mind. She rarely masturbated usually not more than once a week but she felt like she just had to again, otherwise she'd never be able to fall asleep. So she pulled off her shorts and t-shirt and started kneading her breasts, occasionally pinching her nipples. With her eyes closed she imagined it was him which soon made her gasp in pleasure but she needed more.  
Shaking her head lightly she opened the lower drawer of her bedside table and took out the, still wrapped in its original packaging, vibrator that her friends had bought her for her 25th birthday. So far she hadn't felt the need to use it but now it was just the right thing. Quickly tearing the wrapping she put the batteries into the device and finally turned it on. God, it had been ages since she had sex the last time.   
First she pressed the buzzing tip against her clit but that soon also wasn't enough and she sank it slowly and carefully into her tight pussy almost screaming as it touched her sweet spot. Pushing it back and forth she soon came, screaming "Tooooom!"  
With shaking legs and heavily breathing she walked to her bathroom cleaning her new best friend. Damn, that had been better than any sex she'd ever had.  
Cuddling back into her sheets fully naked she finally fell into a deep, dreamless slumber.

*****

Michael and James decided to go to the pub round the corner to have a drink before going home. They sat down in a small booth in the corner and drowned a Guinness each in one.  
"So what do you think?" Michael asked.  
"About what?"  
"About how the day went."  
"I don't quite know. So far there was not a single evidence for anything illegal."  
"Sure. But what about your feeling. I mean, like me, you've been in the business for quite some time."  
"Well, he's a very good actor if he's a drug dealer, murderer, pimp and whatever else. I mean he seems nice and charming. But you're right something is weird, can't pinpoint yet what, though."  
"What I don't get all the women throw themselves at him. What the hell?"  
Chuckling James teased his friend "You're jealous, aren't you?"  
"Oh, shut the fuck up, mate! I mean he’s a prick, making money with God knows what. And he can have every girl he wants. And that car. Neither of us will ever be able to afford a car like that with our stupid job working for the fucking government."  
"Yeah, right. It's even hard to pay back the mortgage sometimes."  
"Exactly. And that wanker probably doesn't even pay taxes for a huge part of his income."  
"Let's talk about something else otherwise we'll get totally frustrated. Have I shown you the pic of my little one from the weekend when we were at the fair?"  
"No."  
They drank and talked for a while longer before they finally went home. James took a cap home while Michael headed for the tube.

It was already past six and Anne-Marie surely wouldn't be happy about him being late especially because he had been drinking.   
Finally he was home, letting himself in, he was greeted by his little son Andrew.  
"Hey daddy. How was your day?"  
He hugged him and lifted him off the ground which was just about possible. In about a year it surely would be different and he couldn't anymore.  
"Good. And how about you?"  
"Another boy had birthday today and we ate loads of cake."  
His wife stuck her head out from the kitchen door. "Hi, darling. Dinner will be ready in a sec."  
"Hi, luv. Great. Go and wash your hands, pal." Nodding the boy headed for the bathroom while James went into the kitchen to his wife. They kissed and James stole a slice of tomato.  
"How is your new top-secret assignment going?"  
"Hmm. Don't quite know. I think it won't be as easy as Mike and director Steward think it is."  
"Why is the Yard even involved in that?"  
"Mike has been on the case for a while and wants to finish it."  
"What is it anyway? I mean must be quite a big thing with all the fuss."  
"Sorry, luv. Can't tell you that."  
"Oh, come on. I'm sure I could find out anyway if I really wanted to know."  
"Good luck with that, luv."  
"I will try. But I'm already sure that Andrea is involved in some way, as well as the CIA."  
James' brow shot up in shock. How could she know that?   
"What do I get if I can find out the rest?"  
"A promotion."

*****

Once Tom drove back in the underground parking lot he briefly thought about going back to the club a bit but even before he'd killed the engine, he had decided against it. He wanted to be alone, drink as much whiskey as he could and fall asleep. Just once he wanted to sleep the whole night without any nightmares or some other shit going through his head.  
He locked the car and went over to the elevator. Once in he used his keycard and entered his pin which would bring him directly to his penthouse apartment. Stepping out of the elevator he used the keycard again, another pin and the fingerprint of his thumb to get into his apartment. You could never be careful enough, especially when the stuff you keep in your safe would bring you to prison for life, along with a majority of Britain’s elite.  
He threw the content of his pockets onto the little desk near the door before heading to his bedroom. The huge mirror showed him an exhausted looking man with dark rings under his eyes. What he would give to peacefully sleep for only six hours or so. Maybe he should really go and see a doctor or take some pills or whatever.  
Sighing he slowly undressed until his boxers were the only item of clothing on his body. His eyes fell to the long scar on his left wrist and goosebumps spread all over his body. Maybe it would have been better to finish what he had started then.   
Shaking his head he quickly discarded this thought from his head. Life was too wonderful to end it. Sex, music, books, movies, fast cars, alcohol... And then a picture of Ben Junior flashed before his eyes.   
It hit him like a train. That was what he wanted: A family. Someone who would love him unconditionally like little Ben did.   
Sentiment! Fuck! Who needed that! Shaking his head furiously he pulled down his boxers. Fully naked now he turned and went to his kitchen where he took a 60-year-old Scotch from the cupboard. Not bothering for a glass he opened the bottle and gulped down almost a third of it at once. After a short consideration he took another big gulp before he put the bottle back.  
He walked into the bathroom and brushed his teeth before going to bed. Cuddling into his soft sheets he inhaled the scent deeply. It was almost a wonder how a simple smell could soothe one like that. Rolling to his side it didn't take him long to black out.

Not for long, however, as he woke only two hours later after another horrifying nightmare. Shaking like a leave he sat up turning on the light in his bedroom to assure himself he was in his own bed - alone.   
For nearly half an hour he sat there and tried to calm down. When his pulse finally was down to normal again he swung his legs out of the bed and walked over to the glass door leading outside to his roof-deck.   
At some point it had started raining and was now pouring down. He opened the door and inhaled the fresh air while listening to the rain falling. He had always liked that sound, it made him feel calm and relaxed. This time was not different. Inhaling deeply again he walked back to his bed getting back beneath the cover. Knowing he wouldn't be able to sleep for a while he grabbed a book and started reading. 

About an hour later he put it back down hoping to find some more sleep. Staring into the darkness of his room loads of thought began spinning through his mind and finally an image of Andrea came to his mind, to be more precise: of Andrea staring at his crotch while biting her lower lip. Why hadn't she slept with him when she obviously wanted to? He closed his eyes and imagined her stepping into his office and slowly shedding her clothes. His hand wandered automatically to his cock and began to stroke slowly. She'd surely be a good fuck. How those lips would feel around his hard-on? Pushing the sheets back he soon came shooting his seed all over his belly and chest.  
Swearing he got a hanky from the nightstand and wiped himself clean. But when he disposed the dirty hanky a single thought shot through his head: "the glasses!"   
A woman like her wouldn't wear glasses like that unless she had to. And the only reason she had to would be that the thick frame gave enough space to hide a microphone and possibly also a camera. She was a cop!   
He somehow was sure about that all of a sudden. When it had been a mere suspicion earlier he was sure now. Damn, he had never wanted to fuck a cop before.  
What should he do with her? He had no idea, he only knew he, and his men, had to be very careful about what they said to her.  
From that moment on his thoughts went in all sorts of different directions: from his businesses to the girls in the club to Elisabeth to Ben Junior and so on.   
By three in the morning he finally had enough, he got up pulled on his sweats, a t-shirt and his running shoes. He loved running round town that early in the morning, he had the whole South Bank for himself, perfect. After about an hour and a half he arrived back in his apartment, showered and went back to bed hoping that he could at least sleep for another hour, maybe more.

He finally woke at 7.30 am by the roll of thunder. Blinking his eyes he turned on his back and stretched. It was raining cats and dogs and it was still quite dark. Slowly climbing from his bed he walked over to the still open window. Right then lighting struck across the sky, followed by the thunder. What a start for the day. Maybe he should just stay in bed, he really didn't feel all too well. But Damian was still in Spain and someone had to keep an eye on the little cop in his office.   
A cup of coffee was what he needed, so he padded over to the kitchen and started making breakfast. Sitting on the table having his full English breakfast he thought about how he could get Andrea out of her hiding.   
Flirting with her was surely the wrong way as her colleagues were surely watching, so she wouldn't react to it. Maybe he should make her feel safe, make her feel like he trusted her. But how? He racked his brains while he ate and finally he got an idea.

Afterwards he got dressed. Feeling a bit casual today he didn't go for the usual suit but for a pair of jeans and a black V-neck t-shirt which probably was a bit tight but WTF! And secretly he couldn't wait to see her expression when she saw him.  
Confident and expectantly he made his way down to the office. First he went to the kitchen and turned on the coffee machine. He was just headed for his office when the doorbell rang. Grinning all over his face he made his way towards it. Checking the security camera he saw her standing in front of the door fixing her clothes and hair which broadened his smile even further. 

*****

She filled two mugs with coffee adding milk and sugar to hers while the other one staid black. Slowly she carried them down the hall and into her boss' office. His office chair was turned towards the window so she couldn't quite see him there only his hands which were resting on the back.  
"Tom, your coffee." She placed the mug onto his desk and wanted to turn and leave for her office. Then he spun the chair around and she saw him sitting there half naked. His chest completely bare and his pants open, his erection standing proud. Staring at it she gasped lightly in arousal.   
"Where do you think you're going?"  
"Ahm... Work." Nothing but a hoarse whisper.  
"Well, as you see I've got a big problem here which requires your help."  
To her own shock she found herself nodding and heading over to him. Setting her mug next to his she kneeled down before him and without hesitation took him in her mouth sucking hard.   
The noises that he was making almost sent her over, her panties nothing but a soaked mess as she continued to bob her head up and down his considerable length.  
"That's a good secretary." His voice sounded so husky as if he'd cum every second but then he grabbed her head and stopped her. "Stand up." Like a marionette she stood back up still staring at his thick cock involuntarily licking her lips as the first droplets of precum leaked from him.   
He grabbed her blouse and tore it open sending her buttons flying all over the room before lifting her skirt and with one fast motion her panties ripped and she stood there exposed. He slowly stood up making sure his dick made contact with her dripping folds and pushed her back onto his desk.  
"Spread your legs, my beautiful slave." Again it felt like she was trapped in someone else’s body as her legs began to part against her own will. "That's it. Shit your wet!" With that he lined up and slowly pushed into her.  
"Fuuuuuuuck! Tooooom!" Damn, it felt good. "Harder!"  
And this time he obeyed her command and thrust furiously into her while grunting and growling like an animal. She felt herself coming closer and closer to her high. Not even bothering what Mike and James thought of her as she moaned like a fucking whore and then she came...

 

Her eyes shot open in shock as she still could feel the waves of her orgasm wash through her. Kind of confused she blinked her eyes, eventually realising she was in her bedroom - alone. She usually slept on her side or on her belly but right now she was on her back, her legs spread wide.   
Had it been just a dream? But she had never dreamed anything like that before. Slowly she sat up wincing as her peaked nipples made contact with her sheets - and never mind her crotch. Disbelievingly she brought her hand down to her sheets where her lady parts had been only moments ago. Had she peed her bed? Or was it just her arousal? Right then her alarm clock went off and she was almost happy about it.   
Quickly heading for the bathroom she pushed her dream aside focusing on her morning routine. Once she was dressed - in a totally unfashionable turtle-neck sweater and a pair of wide long pants she stripped the sheets off her bed, which were still soaking wet, and threw them into her laundry basket. Afterwards she had a quick breakfast and grabbing her glasses she headed for work.

Finally she sat on the tube and the dream came rushing back to her, his toned chest, the firm abs and pecs, the husky voice calling her "slave". Damn! She surely was blushing like a teen. How could she make it through the day without sleeping with him? But she couldn't. That would be so unprofessional on so many levels. Maybe she should just go on a blind date and have a one-night-stand to relief some stress.   
The announcement for her stop pulled her out of her thoughts. Shaking her head she tried to focus on the task before her: convict him of his crimes and bring him to prison. Which, unfortunately, brought another image to her head. This time he was wearing handcuffs but he wasn't in prison, he was cuffed to the metal frame of her bed, naked of course, his cock hard and her straddling him. No! No! No! No! No!   
Instead she quickly thought about a dead body shot by him. Yes, this was better. He was dangerous after all. Swearing at the pouring rain she quickly ran to her office building. As the day before she took the elevator upstairs and rang the bell to her office. How stupid was that?   
But it was only reasonable considering what sort of deals were probably made in there. Automatically she tugged her clothes in place and fixed her hair a bit, finally checking that the glasses were in place. Then the door opened and she saw him. Fuck! She really should have brought an extra set of panties!  
He was in tight (almost obscenely tight) jeans and an even tighter black cotton t-shirt. Holy cow!

"Good morning Andrea. Have you slept well?"   
She immediately blushed as she had to think about her masturbating to the thoughts of him and, of course, her dream. "Yes, Tom. Thank you", she whispered "And you?"  
His face twitched a bit and only then she saw the dark rings under his eyes. "Not so good. But that's okay." He gestured her to go in. "Put your umbrella down on the floor. Coffee should be ready in a sec."  
She opened her umbrella and put it down near the door and to her misery her phone fell out of her pocket and crashed to the floor before sliding a few feet away from her. Before she could react Tom was over there and picked it up making sure she had a good view of his sexy backside. She hissed lightly as she could feel her undies growing damper – and not because of the rain.   
Maybe she should just ask her employer to pull her out of this, otherwise she would suffer indescribable agony.  
"Here. Looks okay, doesn't it?"  
"Thanks."  
"No problem. Come. We've got a lot of work to do."  
"Great. That's what I need now." True, but it wasn't all she needed (and wanted).  
She sat down behind her desk and soon started working.

A few hours later she was done with her assigned work and pressed the button on her phone to ask him if he got something else to do for her.  
"Sure. Just take a short break. I'll be with you in a moment."  
She sighed and leaned back in her chair taking her phone out.   
Luckily it wasn't damaged. There was a text from this morning from James who was listed as Eva in her contacts. The text simply said "are you alright?" Was it that obvious that she was, well, stressed? She quickly typed "???" as the door opened and Tom came towards her.   
Her eyes were immediately drawn to his crotch. Were his jeans even tighter now? It almost looked like he was semi-hard and she swallowed. She had to get out of there.  
"So, you've finished already." He came round her desk and stood behind her tracing just the tips of his fingers along her shoulders. "That fast?"  
"Yes." She just couldn't say more.  
"Great. Then I'll show you how we cross check the figures before we can finish the balance. Of course we'll need our spending to do that."

He patiently explained to her how it worked occasionally touching her. But not in a sexual way only a tap on the shoulder here or a brief touch on the arm there. Nevertheless her crotch was at least as damp as the street outside. Then he "accidently" brushed his crotch against her upper arm and she was sure now he was semi-hard which made a slight moan escape her lips.  
"Everything okay, Andrea?" He asked innocently.  
"Yes," her voice sounded hoarse and she could feel her cheeks burning "I just think I'll need a short break."  
"Oh, sure. Sorry."  
She practically jumped up and ran for the bathroom. Once in she locked the door behind her. Inhaling deeply she finally remembered the glasses, took them off and turned them off before she shoved her pants down. Her undies were soaking wet and before she knew what was happening her right hand had found its way to her dripping slit. Stifling the moans that escaped her she rubbed the little bundle of nerves between her legs, all the time imagining it were Tom's fingers bringing her pleasure. It didn't take long and she came, hard. Fuck!

Tom grinned to himself when she abruptly headed for the bathroom. He even could smell her arousal which made his cock even harder. He had stroked himself a couple of times before coming to her desk and it obviously had worked. He didn't mind walking about with a hard-on, the only thing was the jeans were pretty tight and it was nearly painful. Directing his thought to a whole different way he thought about calling his Columbian contact, they'd soon need more cocaine and those South Americans always needed ages to deliver.   
His gaze landed on the clock and somehow surprised he saw it was already 1.30 pm. Time for lunch. He strolled over to the bathroom door and pressed his ear against it. Grinning he listened to her fast pants as she obviously masturbated in there - or had.  
"Getting some lunch from the supermarket. Do you want anything?" He thought he heard her scream lightly in surprise but couldn't be sure.  
"Ahm. Su... Sure. Sand... wich may... maybe."  
A devilish grin on his face, he asked innocently "Everything alright? Should I... come... in there." He made sure to emphasise the word "come" and he was rewarded with a muffled moan.  
"No. I'm... fine."  
"If you say so. Be back in a few minutes."  
Happy with his torture of her he headed for the elevator.

After she had climaxed she tried to normalise her breath again. Standing in front of the mirror she disbelievingly stared at her reflection. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes wide. What was wrong with her?  
Then his voice startled her. She was still heavily panting from her orgasm as she tried to speak and when he said "come" she nearly did again, just like that.  
Finally she heard his steps grow quieter and relieved she inhaled deeply. Maybe she just should give in and sleep with him. Perhaps it would be easier after that. Or quite the opposite and she would want to spend every second havi... No! She was a MI6 agent! She wouldn't do that! She was strong and had herself under control! Yes!  
Somehow this helped her and she finally calmed down.

When they had finished lunch, he showed her the rest of her task saying "If you need help for a while, it's okay. I mean it's a bit complicated. So if you have any questions just ask. Oh, and can you write a sort of invitation for the club? Nothing special just something short we can put on our new flyers for the club."  
"Sure."  
"Thanks. I'll be in my office if you need me."  
With that he left her alone, finally!   
After her releasing some stress it had been better but still, she or better, her body wanted him. Damn!


	6. Murder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is how Tom deals with people who annoy him!

Andrea sat totally focused at her desk, not hearing Chris coming in, so she nearly jumped out of her skin when he greeted her.  
"Hi, Andrea! Everything good?"  
"Holy fuck! You nearly gave me a heart attack!"  
"Sorry. Didn't you hear me?"  
"No."  
"I'm really sorry."  
"It's okay."  
"The boss in?"  
"Should be. Unless he sneaked out."  
He walked over to the door and knocked waiting for an answer he smiled at Andrea.  
"Hang on a sec!" Tom's voice sounded a bit stressed.  
"Alright, Tom." He walked over to her and whispered conspiritorially "Is he stressed because one of the girls didn't let him into her panties?!"   
Chuckling Andrea blushed. Well, she might be the reason for that. Chris seemed to notice something as he quickly added "Or is it still the trouble with the supplier?"

They made a bit of small talk when the door to Tom's office opened.  
"Hey, kids. Are you planning on how to take over the company?"  
Both smiling looked over at him and somehow Andrea was shocked about how tired he looked.  
"No, Tom. I actually wanted to talk to you about the customer that made trouble the other night."  
Andrea's interest was piqued but Tom motioned Chris to get into his office and they both left her alone. Shit!   
For a moment she thought about going over to the door and try to listen to their convsation through the glass but that fucking camera!

Once sitting at his desk Tom whispered "Nothing about that sort of business in front of her. I think she's a cop."  
"But I thought Damian checked her?"  
"Yes, but there's something wrong about her."  
"Because she doesn't want to sleep with you? Maybe she's still a virgin."  
"Oh. Shut it! Tell it Evans and the others as well when you see them. So what about last night?"  
"Made a fucking mess that wanker. She needed four stitches on her forehead, never mind the bruises all over her body, a black eye and a cut in her lower lip."  
"Fucking shit! Eddie?"  
"No problems with him. He just wanted to know if his debt was paid for then."  
"Hmm. Not nearly but I'll let him know personally. Got that prick?"  
"Yes. Donald Bell. Banker. Married. Strong said there are some complaints from neighbours about noise. And the wife was in hospital a couple of times because of bruised ribs and so on. All in all a total sweetheart."  
"Then we should invite him to a private party tonight. The warehouse at the docks. I'll meet you there at, lets say, eight."  
"Sure. Anything special we need?"  
"Only the usual."  
They both headed for the door and Chris disappeared down the hall saying good-bye to Andrea.  
"You can go home for today. It's late enough already."  
"Thanks but I'll just quickly finish that. Five minutes."  
"Okay. Sure." Instead of heading back to his office, as she thought he would, he came over to her checking her work.  
"Looks good. You're a fast learner."  
"Thank you."  
"Andrea?"  
"Yes, Tom."  
"Why on Earth do wear those ugly glasses? They don't suit you at all. Have you ever tried contact lenses?"  
She hated them as well but he didn't need to know that, so she played the hurt little girl pouting.  
"I quite like them!"  
"Seriously?" Both his eyebrows shot up and she nearly laughed.  
"Yes!"  
"Or is it because a new one would be too expensive? I could give you an advance."  
He really couldn't let up! "If you don't like them then just don't look at me!" She snarled at him.  
Oh, yes. She was a really good actress but it was time to be an asshole now to test her, he thought. "How long has it been since you've been properly shagged the last time?"  
Her jaw dropped. Did he really just say that?! How should she react to that?  
"None of your business." She quickly pressed the "safe" button and shut down her computer before she would say something that would get her fired.  
"So a while, I take it. Get rid of that double glazing if you want that to change, darling."  
"I don't think you are in any posit..."  
"Alright, alright. Sorry." She was good, too good. Every other girl would have slapped him across the face or have shouted at him but not her. Because she needed to keep the job, otherwise they could forget about their investigation.  
"Have a good evening, Tom." Not looking at him she stood up grabbed her stuff and left, fury burning inside her.

Tom watched her leaving, a huge grin on his face. He almost had her loosing control but somehow she managed to stay calm. He even was impressed a bit by her. Maybe this would be fun - at least for him.  
Turning off his computer he checked his phone again and slowly walked towards the elevator. He wanted to make sure Chris wasn't exaggerating about what had happened, so he would check for himself.  
He headed up to his apartment to get a jacket and then directly went down to the underground car park. 

*****

Swearing Andrea left the building and headed for the tube. She hadn't come very far when her phone rang.  
"Hello?"  
"Hey, Andy. Are you okay?"  
"Yes, sure, James. Thank you."  
"If I ever meet that prick I'll punch him in his stupid face."  
"Oh, don't worry. I'll do that myself. Fucking idiot."  
"Mike thinks he wanted to test you. And he's possibly right. I'm just hoping he hasn't got any suspicons."  
"Maybe we could put the camera into a button or brooch."  
"You just fought for those glasses."  
"Yeah, because he was fucking sexist."  
"Can't argue with that."    
"I think they've got something going tonight. I mean that talk about that client and so on."  
"Yes, we think so, too. Mike's watching the underground car park and will follow him. He'll inform me as soon as we've got something."  
"Great. Any idea how we can get rid of that security camera?"  
"Not yet, unfortunately."  
"Damn."  
"Enjoy your evening Andy. Great job."  
"Thanks James. You too. Oh and greet your family."  
"I will. Thanks. Bye."  
"Bye."

*****

Tom drove out of the car park and down the street towards Julie's. Not quite sure if he wanted to see Elisabeth again but he had to know what happened first hand before he dealt with that wanker.  
It didn't take him long and he was at his destination. Taking the elevator upstairs he ran his fingers through his hair. He felt totally exhausted and just wanted to go to bed but he had to lead a company where violence against his employees would be punished, regardless of who did it or to whom.  
The “bing“ of the elevator startled him and he stepped out. Immediately two of his long time employees greeted him.  
"Hello, Sir."  
"Ladies." Alica was staring at him licking her lips and Salma smiled at him.   
"I've got a while till my next client, Sir."  
Quickly taking it into consideration he finally nodded. "Fine, but business first." Chris and their special guest could wait a bit and he hadn't fucked Alica for a while. And she was his favorite.   
"Tom? To what do we owe the pleasure?" Julie had appeared from behind him somewhere.  
"Oh, hi." He turned quickly back to Alica "I'll be with you in a minute, gorgeous." With that his focus was on Julie and they disappeared down the hall.

*****

Alica hadn't seen Tom in a while and was actually a bit sad about it. She was a masochist and submissive and she loved how he pushed her buttons. Tough, but respectful, hitting hard, but always respecting her limits - unlike most of her customers. And he always was very generous. She usually had to spend an hour with two customers each to earn what he paid her.  
They watched him disappear down the hall with Julie and Salma asked with her thick Mexican accent "How is he?"  
"In bed or what do you mean?"  
"Sure."  
"Fucking spectacular. But might not be for everyone's liking."  
"He is a dominant?"  
"Yes. A damn good one."  
"Big, as it looks?"  
"Gigantic." Both girls giggled and changed the topic to some other topics.

*****

He made sure the other girls didn't hear them as he said "I heard you had some trouble last night. What happened?"  
Julie led him into her office and they sat down. "Well, that guy showed up. Had an invitation from one of our best customers, so I thought he was okay. He wanted a rough, hard, dirty fuck and I thought about our little friend. He went in and when he came out he had blood on his hands. I immediately ran to check on her. I've never seen anything like that. I don't know exactly what he did to her but she needed stitches and the doctor said we should keep her out for at least four weeks. Maybe more."  
"Fuck. Did she say anything?"  
"No. She just cried like a baby. The doctor gave me some pills for her to calm her."  
"Is she still in the same room?"  
"Yes." She automatically handed him the keys. He took them thanking her and headed down the hallway. Standing in front of the door he inhaled deeply before unlocking and opening it.  
The room was dimly lit by a small lamp on the bedside table. He couldn't quite see her as her body was tugged into the covers, only the top of her head visible.   
He slowly and quietly stepped towards the bed but she didn't move, he wasn't even sure if she still was breathing. Finally he stood next to the bed and gently ran his fingers through her hair, he couldn't see her face clearly, though, as it was turned in the other direction.  
At first there was no reaction but at least he was sure now that she still was breathing. Once more he ran his fingers gently through her hair and as he withdrew his hand, he saw she was shaking.  
"Elisabeth?" She didn't turn or anything but began to shake even more. "Shhhh. I won't hurt you." He walked around the bed to get a better look at her.   
Brushing her hair out of her face he flinched: her face was covered with bruises. On her forehead was a bandage and the skin of her lower lip had been broken. He didn't want to imagine what the rest of her looked like. Feeling the rage boiling in him he took a step back.  
"I didn't want that. But I promise you he's going to pay for that."  
"You're not sad that he didn't kill me?" Her voice sounded thin but full of sarcasm. He had put her there after all, had made a prostitute of her.  
"I'm sorry for what happened to you. No one should have to go through... that. But if you hadn't betrayed me you wouldn't be here in the first place."  
"So it's my fault?!" She opened her swolen eye as much as it would and stared at him. To her surprise he really looked shaken, his hands were clenched into fists at the side of his body, he looked pale and a single tear ran down his face. In all the time she knew him she had never seen him crying.  
"Why?" He paused and cleared his throat "Why couldn't you love me like I loved you?"  
He sounded hurt and she had to fight her own tears. She had actually asked herself that already and still wasn't sure about the answer.   
"I don't know. Maybe because I knew you were playing a role."  
"But I wasn't."  
"You are a criminal Tom, aren't you?"  
"But that had nothing to do with us."  
"But it did. I was never sure when you had a 'meeting' whether you were killing someone or dealing drugs or whatever."  
"Why did that matter to you?"  
"I guess I was scared of you to be honest. I mean how could I know you wouldn't kill me?"  
He swallowed hard and fought his tears, so he really was a monster and not worth loving.  
"Do you need anything?"  
"Except my freedom?" He didn't answer and turned to leave. "Some painkillers would be nice."  
"Okay. Sure."  
"Tom?" Raising his brow he faced her again. "Thank you and don't be too cruel."  
"You're welcome. But I can't promise you anything." She tried to smile at him but flinched in pain. 

He headed back to Julie and told her to get her some more pills before going to Alica's room. He wasn't even quite at her door and his erection already grew. The door stood open but he knocked nevertheless.  
"Come in."  
He closed and locked the door behind him. When he saw her standing there in nothing but a see-through bra and overt panties his jeans grew even tighter. Grinning at him with her hands on her back she stepped closer to him.  
"Sir, I've been a really naughty girl. Please punish me." Blinking her eyes she brought the cane she held behind her back to her front and held it out to him. Taking it from her, he looked at it for a moment.  
"What did you do?"  
"I made myself cum repeatedly, Sir. Everytime I thought of you."  
"Hmm? But the cane seems a bit cruel, doesn't it?" It wasn't really but he wanted to feel her and he kind of liked the stinging in his hand after he had spanked a girl.  
"Everything you say, Sir."  
"Then we'll start by you helping me out of this interfering clothes." He put the cane down onto a near-by dresser as she stepped even closer to him. She brushed her fingers over his abs before reaching for the hem of his t-shirt. Slowly she pulled it over his head with his help, of course, as he was about a foot taller than her. She had always liked his stature; strong and firm but not too muscly. Her fingers carefully unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans before tugging them down.   
She liked her job, no idea why but with him it wasn't work, it was pure pleasure. He wouldn't even have to pay her and she'd told him that often which seemed only to increase the number of Pound notes.   
Finally she freed the monster and involuntarily licked her lips in anticipation. Unclasping her bra he pulled it off her and dropped it to the floor before running his thumb over her pierced nipple. Tugging her along with him he sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled her over his lap. Before he had to say something she got into the position he always spanked her in with her legs spread wide, so he had easy access to her pussy.  
"Good girl." She felt his hard-on twitch against her side and couldn't stifle a loud moan.  
Then the first slap echoed through the room and many more followed. He spanked her till his hand was burning and her ass and the back of her thighs were red.  
"Stand up. Bend over. Hands on the bed." He didn't have to tell her to spread her legs as she always did automatically. Getting a condom from the bedside table he positioned himself between her legs. He hated condoms but it was a rule and he had to be a good example as their boss, hadn't he?  
The inside of her thighs was already covered with her own juices so he lined up and with one rough thrust he entered her making her scream. Fucking her in a furious pace he made her cum twice before he finished with a low grunt fully burried in her.

Holding her in his arms they calmed down. Her head was resting on his hard chest while her fingers painted little circles into his light chest hair. Suddenly his mobile went of and startled them.  
"Fuck! What time is it?" Tom had totally forgotten about his "special guest".  
"8.15."  
Grabbing his phone while pulling his undies back in place he answered the phone. "Chris, I'm on my way. Had to finish some business, first."  
"No problem. Actually just arrived myself. Wasn't all too easy to convince him to come to this exclusive event."  
"Good. Should be there in about 20 minutes."  
"Sure. We'll be waiting."

He hung up and quickly finished dressing.  
"It was really nice to see you again. If you want, you can come back later."  
"I think I've used your services enough for one evening, haven't I?"  
"Never. And we could just sleep cuddling as we used to."  
She was right. Before he had been with Elisabeth he was here quite often just sleeping while holding her and he always slept like a baby when he was with her. Maybe he should try it and if it worked he could come there more often again or even bring her to his apartment.  
"Are you sure that would be okay?"  
"Of course."  
"Okay then. I'll come back later in about, shall we say, two hours?"  
"I'll be waiting for you. Sir." He kissed her forehead and left after putting a stack of Pound notes on the dresser next to the cane.

 

Tom drove as fast as he could - without risking anybody's life - to the warehouse near the Thames they occasionally used to store their drugs, well one of them. He surely wasn't stupid enough to keep all the stuff at the same place. Two cars were parked outside, one was one of his XEs, the other one was a BMW limosine he didn't recognize.  
Opening the glove department he got out his gun, he put on a pair of leather gloves and got out. He entered the huge hall and his eyes were immediately drawn to the single figure sitting in the middle of the room. The two Chrises came in from the office as he stepped closer to their guest.  
The man was in his late 40s, at least 250 pounds heavy, almost bald and had a charisma which reminded Tom of someone. A someone who had an encounter with meat-eating ants before he died.  
The head of their guest was down, so they probably had knocked him out.  
"Boss, we should tell you something before we look after that prick."  
"What?" How many times did he have to tell them that he hated it to be called "boss"?  
"His wife s pregnant. Eighth month."  
"And?"  
"Don't you think we shouldn't..."  
"That piece of scum doesn't deserve to live. I've seen her. She looks like a bulldozer ran her over. And I'm sure his wife will be happy to get rid of him as well."  
"But..."  
"Fuck off. I was going to do it anyway." Both flinched at his harsh tone. Evans hadn't been in the company as long as Hemsworth so Hemsworth motioned his head towards the office where they had discussed that they would tell Tom but not question his decission. Evans left them lightly swearing.  
"You know, he should pull the trigger."  
"Why?"  
"He's never done it before. And it's definitely time."  
"Yeah, maybe you're right, Chris. What do you think? Kill him or just torture him a while or, my preferance, torture him and then kill him."  
"Sounds good. At least the baby and his wife would be safe from him then. And I've seen what he did to her as well. Fucking wanker."  
"Good. Time to wake him up then."  
They both stepped next to him, Tom gripped his head and pulled it back grabbing the remaining hair while Chris ripped the tape off his mouth and slapped his cheek.   
Finally he opened his eyes and looked at them in shock. He wanted to move his arms but they had been tied to his back.  
"Good evening Mr. Bell. Do you know why you're her?"  
"Let me go or I'll..."  
"You'll, what Mr. Bell? The party hasn't even started and he wants to leave. Such a rude guest, don't you think?"  
"Absolutely. We put sooo much effort in it. We even brought all our tools." With that Chris brought the little cart with tongs, knives, ice picks, hammers, etc. over and their guest began shaking.  
"What do you want from me? I don't have much money."  
"Do you have a life insurance?"  
"Y...yes?"  
"Good. At least for your wife." Tom grabbed a hammer and hit it against the guy's knee which earned him an ear-piercing scream. "You know I hate it if people harm my employees. Even more so if it's in the way you did, my friend. Do you know now why you're here?"  
Donald's eyes widened even more although he was focused on not to scream or cry.  
"Do you?"  
He nodded lightly and said in a thin, high voice "The fucking bitch bit me."  
Tom couldn't stifle the laugh that came out of his mouth "Did she? Where?" Faking pity, he got closer to him.  
"In the arm." A spark of hope went through Donald, maybe it was her in the end who would get into trouble.  
Furrowing his brows Tom stepped around him "Where exactly?"  
"Right lower arm."   
He heard the sleeve of his 200-Pounds-shirt rip and the cold air against his arm confirmed that his arm was bare now.  
"Oh my God! Quick Chris come over and look at that. Poor sod got bitten by a whore." The sarcasm in Tom's voice was obvious now and Donald started crying. "Please Sir. I'll pay for the damage done but please let me go."  
"Oh, you will pay Donnie. Don't worry." He petted his head a couple of times before taking a step back he striked out and smacked him across the face. A crunching sound indicated that Donald's jaw had suffered quite a lot and the mixture of a scream and groan confirmed that.  
"Nice punch." Chris complimented him.  
"Thanks." Another painful moan came from their guest. "What are you saying Donnie? Oh you want another one on the other side?! Sure. Chris, do us the honor."  
He looked up at them slightly shaking his head and beging them for mercy with his eyes. But Chris already swung his fist towards him and his head was thrown backwards.   
"I wouldn't want you as my enemy, mate."  
"Thanks, Tom."  
"Hmm? What next?" Dramatically he tabbed his index finger against his lower lip as he watched Donald lift his head again - at least a bit. "I know. As our dear friend won't need his genitals any longer, how about relieving him of them?"  
"Fantastic idea."  
Donald wanted to scream but his dislocated jaw made that nearly impossible. They pulled down his pants and undies. Once he sat there with his lower half bare Tom and Chris looked at each other each with a brow raised before they started laughing like a pair of school girls.  
"Not much to relief poor Donnie from. We'll need a pair of tweezers to cut that off safely." Again they burst out laughing and Donald started crying even more. He wouldn't survive that, of this he was sure now.  
Holding a scalpel Tom stepped closer to him. Lifting his chin with his left hand he made sure Donnie saw the tool in his hand. "There's one thing I want to know Donnie. Why? What's the kick in raping a girl and smacking her face in?"  
He didn't answer at first so Tom grabbed his chin firmer and squeezed hard.   
"I hate it when I ask someone something and get no answer!"  
Some unintelligiple word came from Donnie. "What was that? You should have gone to a speech therapist but it's too late for that now, I guess."  
"Power." This time it was quite understandable.  
"Power? Seriously Donnie?" He nodded, tears running down his face. "Hmm, stupid reason, don't you think? You know why I do it? - No? - Because I have to. Doesn't mean I don't like it. Especially in situations like this I quite enjoy it. But normally I'd rather not harm anyone. However, if someone harms me or someone close to me, this is just the right answer. What do you think if I asked your wife what would she say?"  
"Probably, kill that prick, please."  
"Exactly! Beating your wife? Really? What kind of man does that?! I mean a little spanking from time to time can be quite nice for both parties involved. But hitting her in the face?!"  
Shaking his head Tom reached down between Donald's legs and cut off his balls.  
"Oops. Anybody want some raisins?" Donald screamed in pain but was silenced as Tom shoved the cut off testicles into his mouth.  
"You've never thought you'd ever suck your own balls, have you?" Chris giggled from somewhere behind him. "Lets finish him. I'm sick of his sight. Fucking moron!"  
With that he cut off his dick as well and it soon joined the rest of his genitals.  
"Get Evans. It's really time he does it."  
While Chris disappeared he took a step back and looked at their work. Donnie's face almost looked like Elisabeth's now - at least the colours: covered in bruises and two big cuts in his lower lip.  
"Nice party, wasn't it Donnie?" Semi-conscious he moved his head a bit but didn't quite react.

"Holy shit! What did you do to him?"  
Tom spun around and just caught the look Chris gave Evans, saying shut up you idiot.  
"Nice of you to join the party. Donnie here missed you." He motioned the other Chris to hand him the gun. He took it from the small table with the rest of their tools and held it out.  
"Here mate."  
"What the fuck?"  
"Listen Chris, you've been working for me for how long now?"  
"About three years."  
"So I think it's time you get your fingers dirty a bit as well. Not always only us. Besides if you look at poor Donnie it would be a relief."  
"But I have..."  
"What? Beaten the shit out of some people? Well, you get the same money as Chris, so it's only fair you do the same work."  
"I just can't kill someone!"  
"Well, you already killed him by bringing him here. And look at him, if you don't pull that trigger he's gonna die a slow painful dead by bleeding out or choking on his own cock."  
"I..."  
"Pull that trigger now or you'll need a new job! Fucking shit!" Tom was really angry now, after all they had, once more, done the main part of the work anyway.  
Finally Evans slowly lifted his arm and pointed the gun at Donald's head and pulled the trigger. Blood splattered around and the body slumped down.  
Tom put his hand on Chris' shoulder "Well done. Now help Chris to get rid of him and all evidence that this prick has ever been here."  
Evans was shaking, had he really just killed a man?  
"You know what to do." Tom addressed Hemsworth and turned to leave thinking about if he should really go back to Alica or just go home and sleep in his own bed.  
"Sure. Good night, Tom." Oh, yes, he knew what to do. They had found a way to the other end of town without being caught by a single CCTV camera. He would take Donnies's car, park it somewhere and burn it to destroy any kind of DNA traces.

*****

Michael sat in a dark limosine which stood right across from the exit of the underground car park of their suspect's office building. He had watched Andrea leave looking a bit shaken. Would she really be up to her task? He still wasn't convinced about that but she was a clever girl and surely wouldn't get caught.  
Tapping his fingers against the steering wheel he watched Andrea finally disappear into the tube station after talking to someone on the phone - most likely James. For his liking the two of them were too close for colleagues but on the other hand he never was a team player anyway. Weirdly enough he enjoyed working with James.

Listening to music he waited and waited but nothing happened. Then the door to the car park opened and a black Jaguar limosine drove out and away down the street. He fought for a moment whether he should follow the car but finally desided not to, because he was sure it hadn't been Hiddleston driving and they were after him, not anybody else.

Once more he waited and he hated waiting. Suddenly the roar of a car ripped him out of his thoughts and he saw another black Jaguar speed down the road and disappear around a corner.  
"Fucking shit! Where did that come from?" He hadn't missed the car driving out, he was sure about that. So there must be a second exit. Grabbing his phone he called James.  
"Yes, mate. Are you on him?"  
"No. Fuck. There must be another exit. He just left and when I saw him he was already too far gone to follow him. Fuck!"  
"Hang on, I'll get the video from yesterday. - There. - Fuck, how could we miss that! It's a small alley he's heading out through, definitely not the main road. He gets to the main road at the Indian restaurant."  
"Shit, shit, shit! We're fucking behaving like amateurs! I'll go and check that out. Go home, mate. I don't think tonight anything interesting will happen anymore."  
"Okay. If you've got something call me."  
"Sure. Night."  
"Night."

Michael got out of the car and walked down to the Indian restaurant and crossed the street. At the small alley was a sign saying "Deliveries only" ignoring it he walked back there and ended up on a huge square with lorries and different gates, none looking like they would go down into an underground car park. He almost wanted to give up but then saw another gate, hidden behind a big lorry, in the very corner of the square. That must me it, it didn't look like something that was used for deliveries at all. They needed to instal a camera somewhere here and with all the security cameras around, one more wouldn't be noticed. Perfect.

Feeling a bit better he headed back towards his car. Time for a drink. He just wanted to cross the street when he saw a familiar face. Strong, Mark Strong. One of his colleagues at the Yard. What was he doing here? Michael turned and hid his face in the collar of his jacket. Curiously he watched as Mark pulled into the underground car park. Was he on Hiddleston's payroll as well?  
Scratching his head he thought about what to do and finally headed for the entrance of the building. He pressed the button of the lift and soon one arrived. He pressed the button with the name "The Saphire Lounge" next to it but nothing happened. Confused he stared at the buttons in front of him for a while until he saw the small piece with numbers to his left. You'd surely needed to enter a PIN code to get to the club. Fuck!

Stepping out of the elevator again he thought about what to do. Grinning to himself he got his mobile and searched for the club's phone number. Dialing it he cleared his throat.  
"The Saphire Lounge, my name is Eddie. How may I help you?"  
"Hello. My name is Arthur Dillingham, I work for the PCD Bank and we plan an exclusive event for our managers. We thought that maybe we could go to your club. But I want to check it out first before we book it."  
"Well, we don't do private events in our London club, but the one in Oxford for example."  
"Oh, it doesn't need to be a private event. Can't we just reserve a table?"  
"That would be possible, yes."  
"Great. May I come round and have a look?"  
"Yes, okay. You know where we are?"  
"Yes."  
"Drive down to the car park and press the bell Mr. Dillingham."  
"Fantastic. Thanks."

About half an hour later he drove his car to the gates and after saying his name he was let into the car park. On the parking spaces of the club were only the most expensive cars you could imagine and they were nearly full. On a Tuesday!  
He parked his car and got out. Right when he arrived at the elevators, one arrived and a tall, very young looking gentleman came out.  
"Mr. Dillingham?"  
"Yes."  
"I'm Eddie Redmayne, we've talked on the phone."  
"Oh, yes. Nice to meet you."  
"You too. Do you have a card or ID on you?"  
Damn. Michael pretended to search his pockets and after a bit he shrugged his shoulders. "I guess not. But you didn't say I should bring one."  
The young man blushed "Sorry, Sir. I really didn't. Must have forgotten it. Well, I guess it's alright. Follow me."  
They entered the lift and Eddie pressed the button for the club and held a keycard to a sensor and they began to go up. He was shown the club and explained how it could work with his party: bla, bla, bla...   
But Michael had only eyes for the woman on the main stage. It was Rosario, the girl he had seen on the screen the day before. She was dancing in nothing but a tight thong.  
"What do you say Mr. Dillingham?"  
"Huh?"  
"What do you say?"  
"Sounds very good." Rosario disappeared and two other girls came out. Scanning the room for familiar faces, particular for one familiar face, he soon gave up. Strong wasn't here, except he was in one of the private booths.  
"I'll see you out Mr. Dillingham."  
"You don't think I could stay a while?"  
"Hmm. Okay. Have fun."  
"Thank you Mr. Redmayne. I'll call you about the event."  
"Good. Have a good evening."

Michael walked over to the bar where the red head from yesterday served drinks. From the corner of his eye he saw Eddie talking to a security guy motioning his head in his direction. So he had to be really careful.  
"Good evening Sir. What can I bring you?"  
The red head stood before him wearing nothing but blue panties and colour over her nipples like all the other girls.  
"Whiskey, please."  
He stayed for about an hour drinking and talking to some other guests. One was the embassador of the American Embassy, a Mr. Norton. He also saw some ministers and other highly influental people.  
He finally left knowing that you needed a personal invitation to get in, with it you'd get an own PIN code you'd use for the car park and lift. Fucking Fort Knox! But there surely must be another way. What they needed was a detailed plan of the whole building!

*****

Tom finally arrived at Julie's again and walked straight to Alica's room. Knocking twice he waited for her to open which didn't take long. She was only wrapped in a towel when she opened the door and seeing him a huge smile spread on her face.  
"Hey."  
"Come in, I just changed the sheets and showered."  
Totally exhausted he dragged himself to the newly made bed and sat down beginning to undress. Just when he brushed down his undies she came back in from the bathroom.  
Yawning he lay down and tugged the sheets up to cover his lower half. Alica got in next to him smiling at him again.   
"If you want we could..."  
"No, I just want to sleep if that's okay."  
"Sure."  
His eyes were already half closed when she pulled his head onto her chest. He had always fallen asleep with his head on her tit while his other hand cupped the other one. He had just settled and almost immediately was fast asleep.  
She waited a bit - like she always had - then rolled to her side, his head pressed against her back and his hand beneath her breast, she soon also fell asleep.


	7. Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Andrea is pouting and Tom knows just how to deal with that.

Blinking his eyes Tom stretched his long limbs. Slightly confused he noticed he wasn't in his own bed and not alone. It took him a moment to remember last night.  
Alica was still sleeping and he took a deep breath inhaling her sent. He had no idea when he had felt that rested the last time. A look to the alarm clock on the bedside table confirmed that he had slept quite long. It was already 5.54 am, so he had slept for about seven hours without any nightmares, at least he couldn't remember any.  
Feeling a bit hungry he carefully unwrapped his arms and legs from her sleeping body. He quickly got dressed, pulled the last cash from his pants and left after scribbling a quick note saying "Thank you."  
The brothel was quiet and nobody saw him leaving which was no wonder at that early hour. On his way back to his apartment he stopped at a café and had breakfast. Afterwards he drove straight back to his home.   
Once in his apartment he stripped and took a long shower before getting into a navy-blue suit and white shirt. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt so good.

*****

Michael was pissed as he headed together with James to director Stewards office. It was still early and he had a slight headache, whether it was from the whiskey he had the night before or from its price, he didn't quite know.  
On the elevator ride up he had told James about the night before and what he had found out. And there was one thing he knew for sure: they needed more man on this case otherwise they didn't stand a chance.  
Like right now they practically should be in two spaces. At the headquarters and in their little office watching over Andrea. Right now she would be on her way to work which wasn't a problem but as soon as she arrived there? Who knew?  
Anne-Marie greeted them as soon as they came around the corner. After a kiss for James and a handshake for him they went into the director's office.

After they exchanged the usual greetings they got to business quite fast.  
"So, how is it going? Anything new?"  
"Apart from Hiddleston being a sexist asshole, nothing big." Michael snarled sarcastically.  
Director Steward raised his brow at Michael's tone.  
James cleared his throat "We need more man on this Patrick. An IT expert and more people for observations. People we can trust. Michael just saw one of his colleagues entering the building yesterday. We're not 100 percent sure he has dealings with Hiddleston but still quite sure."  
"Jesus. But who can we trust then?"  
"Good question."  
"I can't promise anything but I'll try. Maybe the guys from the CIA can help."  
"Great."  
"What do we know so far?"  
They told him what they had which wasn't much really but they hadn't been long on it anyway. Michael also told him about the "secret" exit of the underground car park and director Steward immediately called the technicians to provide them with a camera and also explain how to install it.  
The whole meeting lasted for about half an hour and afterwards they sprinted directly to their observation office. James had texted Andrea earlier telling her about their meeting but everything seemed to be normal so far as Andrea was - once again - working at her desk but seemed a bit frustrated.

*****

Tom had arrived whistling at the office which Chris, who stood in the kitchen, found a bit odd.  
"In such a good mood today?" He stuck his head into the hallway.  
"Yes. Why not?" Tom grinned at him.  
Shrugging his shoulders he thought about his night. It had taken them ages to clean up the warehouse and bring the car away. They had parked it at a deserted storage area and burnt it.   
"Why are you here this early? Was there a problem last night after I left?"  
"Nope. Everything fine." He poured Tom a cup of coffee.  
"Thanks. And Evans?"  
"No problems."  
"Hmm. I'm still not quite sure about him. He could bring all of us down."  
"I trust him. He's just not keen on killing people. Neither am I. And I don't think you are."  
"Right. But the next time he won't get away like yesterday."  
"Sure."  
"You know, I thought I'll remove that old security camera in the office. It's out of order anyway."  
"Why?"  
"Well, I want to make our little spy feel more comfortable, maybe she'll get careless. I guess I want to see what she's doing when she thinks nobody is watching her."  
"You're sure about that?"  
"Yeah, we have the other two cameras in there which I'm sure she hasn't seen yet. And we don't have anything around that could be suspect in any way. Only the stuff in my safe."  
"If you think so."  
"Oh, by the way, Damian will come back in the late afternoon. Pick him up from the airport."

Tom sipped his coffee while staring up at the ceiling where the old security camera was. Changing the direction of his glance he looked right at the new cameras. Even if you knew they were there you couldn't quite detect them. Perfect.   
He put the mug down on Andrea's desk and got the small ladder from the broom cupboard in the kitchen and the tool box.  
When he just had started to take it down the doorbell rang. The show could begin.

*****

Andrea had another “sexy“ dream and after she had gone for a very cold shower she had breakfast.   
Standing in front of her wardrobe later she thought about Tom's outfit from the day before which nearly had been the death of her, but two could play that game, so she took out a skirt, a pretty short one and a thin white blouse through which her lingerie would be visible.   
When she was dressed she stood in front of her mirror admiring herself. Good that the boys wouldn't see her like that. She would never go to her real job like that. But if Hiddleston made her suffer, she could do the same to him. However, he was right about one thing: those glasses were utterly horrible.  
She was just applying her make-up when her phone rang. It was a text from James telling her they would be at director Steward's office in the morning and he would text her when they were back in position.   
Finally she was done and left her flat heading for the tube. 

As the days before she rang the bell to her office and waited fixing her clothes. She had a plan and if she did it right, she would drive Tom crazy.  
It didn't take long and Chris opened the door, his facial expression confirming that she'd done her job right.  
"Morning Andrea." He stared at her - and she was still in her blazer.  
"Morning. Everything alright?"  
"Hmm? Oh, sure. You look good."  
"Thank you."  
Heading down the hallway she walked to her office and as Tom's ass literally appeared in front of her she stopped in her tracks. Damn him! Why on Earth did he have to wear such tight pants.  
Smiling at her he turned slightly. "Morning Andrea."  
Out of a sudden impulse she said "Morning Sir" and it seemed to work as his eyes grew wider. Pretending to ignore him - and his perfect ass - she walked round her desk, sat down and turned her computer on while he continued with whatever he was doing up there.  
"Something broken?"  
Once again he turned towards her and when his eyes were on her she took off her blazer. Inwardly grinning she took in his expression as he stared at her breasts and if she saw it right there was even a slight twitch at the front of his pants. Jackpot, baby!  
Finally his eyes moved back up to her face and as he hadn't answered her she questioningly raised both eyebrows.  
"Hmm? What?"  
"Something broken?" She really had to suppress a laugh at his stupid face.  
"No, just taking that stupid thing down. Wasn't working properly anyway." Shaking his head lightly he got back to his task.  
Was he really taking down the security camera? This must be her lucky day!  
"Gonna put up a new one?"   
"No. We never used it anyway. It was already in here when we moved in a couple of years ago." Everything true, he just didn't tell her that they had installed two new ones in here and two more covering the entrance area and hallway.  
That were great news, she couldn't wait to tell Michael and James about it. This would make her job at least a bit easier. Damn, she needed a coffee. Getting up she picked up his mug "More coffee, Mr. Hiddleston?"  
At first he didn't react but then he turned his head his brows furrowed. "What?"  
"I asked if you wanted more coffee."  
Had he misheard her? Surely. "Sure. Thank you."   
Seducingly swaying her hips as she walked away, she had a wide grin on her face. What a fantastic day.

She came back in just when he had finished. Holding the camera in hand he stepped down the ladder.  
"I'll put your mug on your desk Mr. Hiddleston."  
Now he was sure he hadn't misheard her earlier. "I thought I told you to call me Tom." He hated it to be called by his last name:  he wasn't his father after all.  
"Yes, I know. But it doesn't seem right. And after your neatnesses yesterday, I figured it was better not to get too close. I want this to be a professional environment, nothing else."  
He looked like she just had slapped him across the face as he swallowed hard. Well, two could play this game. And if she wanted to play, he didn't mind.  
"Okay then, Miss Riseborough," it came out quite sarcastically "I want the balance for the whole month on my desk by noon."  
He didn't wait for an answer just headed for his office taking the mug from her hand and closing the door behind him.

Grinning he walked to his chair and sat down. He hadn't shown her yet how that worked, so he was curious how she would handle it. It actually was quite simple if you had your job done right and would be finished within 10 minutes. If she didn't ask him or find out by herself she would be busy all day long - at least. But if she wanted war he was only to happy to play along.  
Opening the network he quickly finished it himself before he answered emails and made some phone calls. Afterwards he opened the security system and logged into the security cameras that would be on Andrea's office. She was sitting there and going crazy as it seemed. He watched her trying to put the single week balances together which only worked if you activated a button first which she, of course, didn't know. And now, everytime she tried the numbers weren't added but just stood in the lines next to each other. She swore so loud he could even hear her through his closed door.   
The ringing of his phone distracted him. Chuckling lightly he answered it.  
"Hey, Ben. How are you mate?"  
"Hi, Tom. Great, you? You sound quite happy actually."  
"Indeed. Just having some fun at the office."  
"Shagged a girl?"  
"Nope. Just driving one crazy."  
"Ah, I see. Mate, can you do me a favour?"  
"Sure. What is it? Have some trouble with someone?"  
"No, no. Just need a babysitter for tonight. Would you do that?"  
"Yeah, sure. But is Sophie okay with that?"  
"Yes. Why shouldn't she?"  
"Because she fucking hates me."  
"No, she doesn't. She might not be your biggest fan but she definitely doesn't hate you."  
"Hmm. Should I come to your place? Or how do we do this?"  
"Actually we thought he could stay at yours if that's okay?"  
"Yes, but I don't have any toys or stuff like that." Andrea just had slammed her hand down on her desk which made him giggle.  
"What the hell are you doing? And we'll pack a bag for Ben Junior, don't worry."  
"My secretary wanted to play war and I think she regrets her decision now. When will you be here?"  
"Round four. Poor girl."  
"Well, I think she's a cop, so don't worry about her."  
"A cop? Your shitting me?"  
"Nope. When will you pick him up again?"  
"Tomorrow morning, if that's alright."  
"Okey dokey. See you at four then."  
"Yeah. And thanks man."  
"No problem."  
   
He continued with his work occasionally checking what Andrea was doing. Well, one thing was sure by now: she was bloody stubborn not to ask for help.

*****

Andrea was slowly going crazy. Never mind what she did that stupid computer didn't do what she wanted it to do. Fuck! And she surely wouldn't creep to Hiddleston's office to ask for help. But the clock was working against her, it was already 11.30 and he had said he wanted it by noon which only gave her another 30 minutes. In her misery she went to look for Chris but he first was nowhere to be found and then he had no idea either. He simply said "Ask Tom!" But no, she wouldn't do that, not after what he had said the night before and his arrogant tone this morning. She finally started adding the numbers with the calculator on her phone and put them in, like they usually did it with the weeks figures which seemed to work. But it was too late already as it took ages to do that.   
When the clock went to 12 the door to his office opened and he stepped out looking at her.  
"So Miss Riseborough, I hope you're finished."  
"No, Mr. Hiddleston. I'm afraid I'm not."  
"What the bloody hell have you been doing all morning?"  
She had tears in her eyes, what if he would fire her now? "I'm sorry. It just didn't quite work as I thought it would."  
He stepped closer to her and towering over her he looked down at her with a strict look before his eyes moved to the computer. "Why didn't you ask for help then?"  
"I wanted to make it on my own."  
"This is a professional environment. Didn't you use those words earlier? Anyway, things need to be done on time. I told you I need it by noon but what does miss super-secretary do instead of asking because she's too proud? Juggling with figures all day."  
"I'm really sorry Mr. Hiddleston. I ju..."  
"I don't want to hear excuses. If it was a more important document, I would fire you." He took a dramatic pause and watched her blinking her tears away. "To your luck it isn't all too important. And with the right know-how it is actually finished in less than ten minutes."  
Her eyes went wide in shock. Fucking bastard!  
"See, that's what I mean. I want this to be a friendly 'environment' to use your word. I know I haven't behaved nicely yesterday but I apologised. But what do you do? Behave like a child and pout. And we all have our bad days, so I'm willing to think it was one for you so far. However, should this childish behaviour happen again, I'll have to look for someone else. Understood, Andrea?"  
Shit, he was really good in telling someone off. Swallowing hard she nodded. "Yes, Tom. Thank you."  
"So, let me show you how this works."

Like he had said it wasn't much work and they had finished after about 15 minutes with him explaining the single steps and her doing them.  
"Good, now safe the file on the network under balances. Just name it with the month and the year, like the others. - Perfect. I think it's time for lunch now. Do you like Indian?"  
"Ahm, sure."  
"Good. I'll invite you as an additional apology for my poor behaviour yesterday."  
"No, that's not necessary. It's okay. Really."  
"No arguing. Get your jacket and we'll go."

About ten minutes later they entered the Indian restaurant down the road.  
"Hey, Tom. How are you?"  
"Very good, Raj. How's business?"  
"Going well. Table for two?"  
"Yes, thanks."  
The place looked a bit shabby but it was packed, so the food must be quite good, Andrea thought as they followed him to a table in a small booth. Tom helped her out of her jacket before taking his own off and sat down opposite her.  
"I know it doesn't look too good but they make the best curries in whole London."  
"Two welcome cocktails on the house. And the menu."  
"Thanks Raj. Without alcohol I hope."  
"Of course." He also said something in Hindi and Tom grinned at her and answered.  
"She's only my new secretary."  
Raj left them again and Tom smiled at her while lifting the yellow drink.   
"Cheers."  
Reluctantly she lifted her glass as well and forced a smile onto her face. "Cheers."

After they had chosen their meals it was silent between them for a while. Andrea nervously fidgeted with the hem of her skirt while Tom watched every single move.  
"So how do you find the job so far? Not too boring I hope."  
"No, no. It's alright."  
"You don't really like me, do you?"  
She wanted to scream at him "No you idiot, I do. But that's the whole fucking problem: I can't stop thinking about how it would feel if you'd take me on my desk." instead she just shrugged her shoulders and said "I don't quite know yet."  
"Hmm? What can I do to change that?"  
"Just give me some time. It's not easy for me to connect with new people. It never was." Well, that was actually the truth, it had always taken her ages to find friends and she didn't have many.  
"Okay. What do you do in your spare time?" Raising an eyebrow she looked at him. "What? I know all my employees very well."  
"I'm not gonna sleep with you, if that's what you're hoping."  
He looked hurt "Can't I just invite you for lunch and get to know you a bit better? I mean not that I would mind to... you know, you're gorgeous. But as I said I know all of my employees better."  
"I've heard about that." She snarled sarcastically at him.  
Furrowing his brows he looked even more hurt "What do you mean?"  
"Well, apparently you've shagged literally every girl in your stupid club."  
"Who said that?"  
"Doesn't matter."  
For a moment he was speechless and looked really offended. "Well, who am I to say no to a beautiful woman. But it's not been nearly every girl. And why would that bother you? I'm your boss, not your lover."  
"True. I guess that's just my inner feminist screaming at me."  
"Gosh, you sound like I've forced them to sleep with me."  
"No, I didn't say that."  
"But what then?"  
"Well, if a girl sleeps with a lot of men she's a slut. But if a man's doing it..."  
"So, I'm a slut?! Fine."  
"No, no. I'm sorry. Sleep with how many girls you want just let me out of it."  
"Yeah, whatever. But it's the girls that see me as a walking dick and not as the person I am. So much to your feminism."  
They sat in silence for a while till his phone rang. He took it from his pocket and looked at the screen furrowing his brow.  
"May I?"  
Confused she nodded her head, had he just asked her for allowance to pick up his phone?  
"Hello? - Ah, hola Penelope. ¿Como estas? - Bien. Gracias. - Si. - La proxima semana? - Claro. - Enviame un correo electronico por eso. - Gracias. Tu tambien. - Adios. - Sorry about that." He put his phone back into his pocket.  
"You speak Spanish?"  
"Only a bit. My French's better."  
"I'm impressed. I've never had a thing for foreign languages."  
"Thanks. I guess everyone has their strength. What s yours?"  
Well, she was good in shooting but she couldn't say that. "I can remember loads of things. I've got a bit of a photographic memory."  
"Wow. Really."  
"Yes." To her dismay the image of him in his tight jeans and shirt from the previous day came back to her right then which made her thighs press together automatically and her pussy dampen.

Their food arrived and he had been right, it was the best curry she ever had. Like he had said he invited her and paid both their meals, with a very generous tip. Andrea had to giggle as he pulled a bundle of Pound notes from his pocket.  
"What?"  
"You own a club and God knows how much money but you don't have a wallet?"  
"What for?"  
"To keep your money in it?!"  
"I guess I just hate the feeling of a wallet in my pocket. Too heavy."  
"I see." Another thought crossed her mind: his trousers were already packed anyway, so maybe there wasn't enough space left for a wallet. Stifling a laugh she got up and let him help her into her jacket. He could be such a gentleman.

Saying good-bye to the staff they left the restaurant and headed back to their building casually walking next to each other.  
"Are you short- or long-sighted?"  
"Ahm," damn, she hadn't thought about that "well, I'm long-sighted."  
"So why don't you turn off your glasses when you're not working on the computer?"  
"I just got used to wearing them. Are you starting the whole glasses thing all over again?"  
"No, no. Sorry. But please allow me to say you'd look better without them or with a different modell."  
"So I'm ugly."  
"No, not at all. Quite the opposite actually."  
Was that a compliment? "Ahm, thanks, I guess."  
"You're very welcome." He held the door open for her and they headed back to the office. He let them in with a keycard and a PIN code which he hid from her by stepping between her and the panel. Again he held the door open for her and they went in.  
"Coffee, Andrea?"  
"Later. Thank you."  
"Alright." He poured himself a cup and an idea struck Andrea. Why didn't they equip the mugs with bugs? It would stand on his desk and they could hear what was being said in his office! Perfectly simple, if it was technically possible.  
He told her to do research about another strip club (if she wouldn't be offended by that) and went to his office.  
"Thanks for lunch again."  
"You're welcome." He winked and smiled at her which made her panties grow damper. How did he do this?

 

The afternoon went by quietly until the doorbell rang at four. Andrea was about to get up and see who it was as Tom came rushing out of his office.  
"I'll get it."  
Curiously she glanced down the hallway to see who it was. To her surprise she heard a childs voice shouting cheerfully "Uncle Tom!"  
"Hey! There's my little pal. How are you?"  
"Daddy said I'm allowed to stay overnight."  
"Yes. We're gonna have some fun. What do you say to a pyjama party?"  
The child giggled in his arms which kind of made her heart (and ovaries) melt. Shaking her head lightly she focused on the scene again. She had seen the other man, who was standing next to them, before on one of the pictures in their very first meeting. Cumberbatch was his name and he owned a franchise of bars.  
"You guys are good?" He asked in a dark voice that wasn't too different from Tom's.  
"I guess we are. Right buddy?"  
"Yes."  
"Good. His stuff is in here," he handed Tom a quite large bag "I'll pick him up tomorrow morning, okay man?"  
"Sure. Don't worry, we'll be fine."  
"Okay. If there is an emergency just call my mobile."  
"Yes, of course."  
It was visibly hard for the man to say good bye to his son but finally he kissed his cheek stroking his hair. "I'll see you tomorrow, pal. Be nice to uncle Tom."  
"Always. Bye daddy."  
"Bye."

When the door closed again Andrea rushed back to her desk and sat down going back to her research. Soon Tom came in with the little boy sitting on his shoulders.  
"Mind your head, buddy." He went into his knees in order not to bang the boy's head who happily squealed on his shoulders and dug his little fingers into Tom's hair. Andrea found herself looking at that scene and wondering how it felt to dig her fingers into his hair while his hard... No. Focus, Andrea!  
"Who's that uncle Tom?" The boy grinned at her and she just had to smile back at the both of them.  
"That's Andrea. She's working for me." He carefully lifted the boy from his shoulders and put him down on the floor. He immediately came rushing towards her.  
"Hello, I'm Ben. Nice to meet you." A huge grin spread across her face as she looked at the little boy holding his hand out to her. Shaking it she smiled "Nice to meet you, too. My name's Andrea."  
"Good. Now we aren't strangers anymore and I'm allowed to talk to you."  
"Buddy, that's not qu..." Tom's mobile went off and he pulled it from his pocket "quite how that works. But I'll explain that later to you." then directed at her "Would you look after him for a moment?"  
"Sure."  
With that he took the call and went into his office closing the door behind him.  
"So you're visiting your uncle for the night."  
"Yes. Mummy and daddy are going to a party and grandma and grandpa are on holidays. Mummy didn't want to go because of that."  
"Why's that?"  
"I think she doesn't like uncle Tom."  
"Really?" She made a shocked face.  
"Yes. She said to daddy he is a bad influ... influ... something."  
"Influence?"  
"Yes. But I absolutely like him. He's so funny. But mummy said he's a child himself. Which I don't understand because he's sooo tall!"  
Well, maybe his mummy was right and it was all just a game for him and he didn't think about the consequences of his dealings. "I don't think she ment that. Is he your real uncle?"  
"What do you mean?"  
"Are he and your daddy brothers? Or is your mummy his sister?"  
"No." Tom came back in and silently watched the two of them talking.  
"Have you stayed often with your uncle?"  
"No, never before. But I always wanted to. Can I ask you something?"  
"Yes, of course."  
"Why are you wearing these ugly glasses?"  
Tom broke out laughing at his godson's words and Andrea threw an annoyed glance over at him. When he saw it he just shrugged his shoulders innocently and pointed at the boy.  
"Okay, buddy. Ready to go?"  
The boy eagerly nodded and held his hands out for Tom to pick him up again which he was only too happy to do.  
"You can go as well for today."  
"I'll just quickly finish this. Okay?"  
"Sure. Just turn off the lights when you're leaving. Have a good evening."  
"Thanks. You too. Bye Ben."  
"Bye, Andrea." He waved his little hand at her while cuddling against Tom's shoulder.

With that they left and for the first time she had the place for her alone. She quickly saved what she was doing and started to sniff around the office after making sure she really was alone.  
As expected there was nothing to be found in her office so she headed over to Tom's and started searching his cabinets and so on but there was nothing unusual as well. Only invoices, bills, contracts, staff lists and more. But nothing that gave a single hint that there was something illegal going on. Fuck!   
Finally she went over to his desk and turned on his computer. While it started she wanted to search the drawers but again, nothing suspicious; except that one drawer was locked. She searched for the key but it was nowhere to be found.  
She tried to get into his computer but without his password there was no chance. Logging in with her own account she had only the same files as on her own computer. Finally she gave up after nearly an hour and went home.

Once she was home she called Mike and James.  
"Hey guys. What do you think? I mean everything looks absolutely normal."  
"Yes. But if he wasn't careful we would have nailed him already."  
"But what if there isn't anything to nail him for?"  
"There is. Believe me." Mike sounded pissed.  
"What the hell were you thinking to sniff around the place?! What about the security camera?" James sounded absolutely concerned.  
"You didn't get that, did you? He took it down this morning saying it wasn't working anyway. By the way, did something come out at that meeting with director Steward?"  
"Not yet. He tries to find reliable men to support us."  
"Do you guys think it's possible to hide a bug in one of those coffee mugs?"  
"Possibly. Actually that's a fantastic idea. Lets figure that out."  
They talked for a while longer before hanging up. 

Andrea was tired, she hadn't slept very well, akward dreams had kept her awake. She changed into her pyjamas, had dinner and watched telly for a while. Finally she went to bed but sleep was just out of reach as her mind kept going back to him. His sexy ass, his incredible blue eyes staring at her during lunch, him holding the little boy, his fingers on her back after he had helped her into her jacket, his eyes fixed on her cleavage...  
At some point she stopped fighting the urge to touch herself and she finally fell asleep after coming three times to the thought of him.  
Shit!


	8. Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tom looks after his little godson and has some painful memories.

Tom took Ben up to his apartment and the kid was totally fascinated by the view. They stood almost a full hour on the terrace and admired the view. Then Ben's stomach growled and they went in to make dinner.  
While Tom made his famous spaghetti Bolognese, the boy played with his toys. After they had eaten together Tom quickly cleaned up.  
"Uncle Tom, I need to pee."  
"Oh, sure. Come on, I'll show you where the bathroom is."  
They headed down the hall towards his bedroom and made a right just before entering it. The child's eyes immediately widened when he saw the bathroom.  
"You've got a swimming pool in here?"  
"Ehehehe. That's just a jacuzzi."  
"What's that?"  
"A bath tub, basically."  
"Oh, yeah. Can we take a bath?"  
"Ahm, yes, I guess." He helped Ben out of his pants and as soon as he was done on the toilet, the boy pulled off the rest of his clothes demanding a bath. Grinning Tom let in the water and poured in a bit of his bathing oil. A bubble bath would probably have been more fun for the child but he just wasn't used to having children around.  
Once he had checked that the water wasn't too hot he put the boy in after rolling back the sleeves of his shirt. Ben immediately started splashing the water all around him while laughing heartily.  
"Why don't you come in too, uncle Tom."

 

***** 

 

All afternoon they had been on the rugby pitch in the pouring rain training for their match at the weekend, so all he wanted was to get a hot shower and go to bed. When he got to his dorm he quickly shed his clothes apart from his undies. His roommates weren't in but he didn't want to risk anybody to see the welts on his abused butt.   
He hadn't paid attention during Mr. Lang’s math class and - once more - had been punished by him only that the teacher had used his belt this time. It had stung so hard that he couldn't sit comfortably for the whole week.  
Grabbing his towel he headed for the showers, hoping he had the place for himself he opened the door, peeking in. The room was empty, so he quickly got in closing the door behind him. The other boys had showered in the changing room but he didn't want to. He hated it, it always felt like they were staring at him. Puberty had already hit him unlike most other boys so the first pubic hair were growing. Why was it always him?  
He quickly pushed down his undies and stepped into one of the stalls. Deeply breathing he started to enjoy the warm water running down his body until a hand reached around him and grabbed his dick firmly. In shock he spun around and saw Mr. Gallagher standing in front of him who glared down at him.  
"Turn around Thomas." In protest he shook his head. But his protest was broken by the adult grabbing him and shoving his front against the wall. The hand sneaked to his dick again and began stroking...

 

*****

 

"Uncle Tom? Uncle Tom! Are you alright."  
Swallowing hard he quickly blinked away the tears and forced a smile onto his face. "No, no. You'll have more fun when you got the whole thing for yourself."  
"But Daddy bathes with me too."  
"I don't want to right now. Okay?"  
Shrugging his shoulders little Ben slapped his palms down onto the surface of the water splashing it all over the room. Tom sat down next to the tub running his hand through his hair whilst trying not to start crying. 

 

When the boy finally had enough from the water, Tom wrapped him in a towel before getting his pyjamas.   
"Are you tired, mate?" He had just put his Snoopy pyjamas on him and his godson really looked like he would fall asleep right then and there.  
"Not yet. Can we watch some movie?"  
"Okay." He picked him up and they went to the living room. Tom put in The Jungle Book, one of his favourite kids movies ever and wrapped them both in a fluffy blanket. By the time Baloo sang The Bare Necessities Ben had fallen asleep with his head on Tom's thigh. He carefully took him into his arms and brought him to bed.

He changed into a pair of cotton boxers and a t-shirt before watching the rest of the movie with a glass of Scotch. He absolutely wanted to drink more but with a small child in his apartment he surely wouldn't get pissed.  
After the movie was over he just sat there in the dark. Staring at nothing the memory from earlier came back. A shudder went down his spine as he thought about it. Mr. Gallagher had stroked him until he had come all over the shower wall whilst crying like a baby.  
Well, he had made him pay but weirdly that didn't make him feel much better.   
For the first couple of days after he had killed his abuser he had felt better, no more nightmares or anything, but then they had come back full force. Would it be different if he hadn't killed them and made them rot in prison? Most likely not.

Finally he felt totally exhausted and went to bed as well after brushing his teeth. Ben was fast asleep on one side of his large bed. He locked the windows leading out to the terrace in case the boy woke and wanted to get out there. Briefly he thought about whether to sleep on the sofa but decided against it. The bed was huge enough and Ben had his own blanket, so everything would be fine.   
Cuddling into his sheets he closed his eyes...

 

*****

 

Like every summer holidays he and his sisters had spent a week at their uncle's and aunt's house with their cousins which always had been good fun. But that year was different. Their mum had brought them there on Sunday and would pick them up the following Sunday. While the adults had tea and talked they went outside to play and it didn't take long until they wanted Tom to do his impressions.  
"Do Goofy!"   
"No, Donald Duck!"  
"No..."  
Whatever they wanted him to do he just couldn't. Something in him was broken, he wasn't the same anymore. At some point he heard Laura, his older sister, say "Don't bother. Since he's going to that posh school he's too good to talk to any of us. Forget him."  
It felt like she had stabbed him with a sword but he couldn't even protest he just felt tears welling up in his eyes. Without even looking at him anymore they turned and ran off playing hide and seek in the huge garden.  
He hid as well, in his uncle's garage under a canvas cover crying his eyes out. In about two weeks he would have to go back to the school and he'd rather die than do that. His uncle and aunt had always liked him, maybe they would take him in when his parents didn't want him anymore. He had to try!  
His aunt's voice distracted his thoughts "Tom! Tom! Where are you? Time for dinner. Tom!"  
He waited for another ten minutes before he got out of his hiding place. Of course they had started without him already.  
"There you are? Where have you been? Everything okay?" She looked at him concerned.  
"Sorry. Forgot the time." He whispered and sat down seeing the hostile glances of his cousins and sisters from the corner of his eyes. If they wanted to go to that school then why shouldn't say, as long as he didn't have to any longer.  
His aunt had made fish and chips, his favourite as a child but he barely ate anything these days anymore. What was the point? What was the point in anything, really?  
"Don't you like it, Tom? I thought fish and chips was your favourite."  
"It's really good, I'm just not that hungry."  
Furrowing her brow she looked worried at her nephew. 

After they had finished eating the children ran off to play some more, except Tom.  
"You don't want to play?"  
He shrugged his shoulders and stared onto his knees.  
"What is it? Did some girl break your heart?" Shaking his head he started to clear the table.  
"You don't have to do that. You know that you can tell me anything, okay? I'm here for you."  
This was too much for him. Why hadn't his parents said that to him? Why did she care, when they didn't? Tears started running uncontrollably again and in the blink of an eye she was at his side and pulling him into a tight embrace. Like that they stood for about 20 minutes.  
"Gosh, look at that cry-baby!" His elder sister’s voice was full of hate and he immediately dropped his hands from his aunt's back and pulled away.  
"Go play guys, okay! Tom!" It was too late, the boy had run off. She and her husband searched the whole house without finding him. Finally they sat down on the sofa after bringing the rest of the children to bed.  
"What happened?"  
"He was crying and I held him. Then Laura showed up and you know like kids are that age. And he ran off, no idea where."  
"Should we call his parents or the police."  
Tom stood in the hallway outside the living room after coming out of his hiding place in the garage, he was totally exhausted.  
"I don't know. Something's wrong with the boy. Don't know what though."  
"He's always been a bit weird, don't you think?"  
"Weird? No. He was just active, enjoying himself. And now he's the total opposite."  
"Well, then your new porcelain may survive his visit this time."  
Ashamed he stared at the floor more tears running down his face. It had been an accident. He had tried to catch Matt, his cousin, when they were playing. He had run from the sunlit garden into the dark house, Tom followed him and crashed into his aunt who just had got the porcelain from the cupboard.   
Due to the crash it fell out of her hands and onto the floor shattering into thousands of pieces. He had apologised a million times even offered to give her all the money he had saved to buy a new set. But she said it was okay and he shouldn't worry.   
When their parents picked them up a few days later his sister of course told them about it and his dad slapped him across the face for it. That was a year ago and so many things had changed.  
"Tom?" His aunt suddenly stood in front of him staring shocked at him, his lower lip was shaking and tears streaming down his already swollen face. "Shhhh. Come here." She wanted to embrace him again but he took a step back whispering in a shaky voice she hardly understood "I'm really sorry about the porcelain. I really am."  
"Oh, Tom. Don't worry. I wanted a new one anyway." Smiling at him she tried to cheer him up but the tears just kept running. Her husband stepped past her and kneeled down in front of the boy retrieving his hanky from his pocket and wiping Tom's face. That wasn't his always happy nephew who always had a mischievous grin on his face.  
"What's wrong boy? You can tell us."  
Why couldn't they be his parents? He almost told them that moment, almost. Instead he just said "Can I stay here? I don't want to go back. Please. I'll even get a job, I don't have to go to school."  
The two adults exchanged a shocked glance before he spoke "But we're not your parents, Tom."  
Of course they didn't want him either, so he just nodded and turned towards the bedrooms "Good night."  
"Tom?"

 

He didn't turn around just went into his cousin's bedroom which they always shared during that week. He didn't bother to change, he only took off his shoes and socks as well as his t-shirt and jeans. He had just pulled the blanket over himself when the door opened and his aunt came in.  
"Tom? Don't you want to brush your teeth?" Ignoring her he turned around, away from her. "You can always talk to us. No matter what. We love you. But we're just your uncle and aunt." Stroking her fingers through his curly mess of hair she placed a kiss onto his temple. "Good night, Tom."

 

The week went on and his aunt worriedly watched as they all played, only Tom would stay behind sitting in the library reading or just sitting at a window staring out. The weather wasn't too good mostly it was raining cats and dogs, so the kids were trapped in the house.   
She had tried a couple of times to talk to Tom but every time she did he either ignored her or walked away. She had a terrible suspicion but should she just straight ask the boy? Probably not, and it wasn't really her job. It was his parents'. She had decided to talk to them or probably just her sister, his mum, because Norman most likely wouldn't come, he was always too busy.   
A cold shudder went down her spine as she thought about him slapping the boy last year. It had been an accident and Tom had apologised a thousand times, even helped her to clean up. The boy had run outside after that and not come back till dawn which got him another slap.  
She still could hear his father's voice "Thankfully he'll go to that boarding school in two weeks. Maybe they can tame that boy."  
Well, they had. God knows how!

Friday the weather finally was better and they fixed the pool for the kids in the early morning. The kids came down at about nine, one after the other and had breakfast. Once more all but Tom.  
She walked upstairs and grinned as she saw that he still was sleeping, curled up into a ball.  
"Tom, wake up. The sun is shining. Time to get up. Tom."  
He writhed beneath the blanket and whispered something she didn't understand. Gently she tugged the blanket back and his eyes finally opened.   
"Go away!" He hissed at her with a shocked expression on his face and she knew why when she saw his boxers were tenting. As quickly as possible she turned around and apologised adding "That's nothing to be ashamed of" before she left. Well, he was old enough to...

Half an hour later Tom came into the kitchen slightly blushing when she looked at him.  
"Are you hungry, Tom?"  
Shrugging his shoulders he grabbed the cereals and ate a small bowl. Usually he always had eaten like a horse. She often wondered how he managed to stay so thin. But now, no matter which meal it was, he barely ate anything and he was only skin and bones.  
"You guys want to go swimming?"  
"Yeeeeees!" All had a huge grin on their faces, all but one. They jumped up and headed for the stairs to get changed. Tom stayed where he was picking at his breakfast. It broke her heart to see the boy like that. Then a glimmer of hope came back to her when she saw his younger sister, Ella, come back and grab his hand.  
"You have to come too!" He turned towards her and it was the first time in the whole week she saw a smile on his face (barely a shadow of how his wide smiles used to be, but still).  
"Okay."  
"Come, Tom." Well, he had taught his little sister how to swim after all. It seemed like ages ago now. She had gotten into the house to get some lemonade for the kids and when she came back she nearly panicked as she saw Ella's swim aid lay on the side of the pool but then she saw Tom was holding her and patiently telling her what to do.

The rest of the morning went quite well, all of them had great fun swimming, really all of them and a bit of the old Tom was back.  
In the evening they had a barbecue and for the first time in the whole week Tom ate more than a few bites. He even began to smile more again. After dinner they all played together and then watched a cartoon. And Tom even did his Baloo and Sher Khan impressions which even she as an adult found hilarious.  
Saturday they built up their big tent in the garden and, as usual, all the kids would spend the night in there. In the afternoon their mum arrived and they all had tea and cake together.  
While the kids were playing the two sisters sat on the terrace together.  
"Patty, don't you think that there's something wrong with Tom?"  
"What do you mean?"  
"Well, he's very quiet, kept most of the week for himself, hardly smiling or even eating."  
"He's a teenager now, that's always a weird age."  
"He's also been crying a lot. He even asked us if he could stay here."  
"What? Well, he doesn't seem to like his new school. Made a huge scene when his dad wanted to bring him back there after the winter holidays."  
"Then why not let him go back to his old school?"  
"His marks have improved significantly, and as you've noticed yourself, he's much quieter."  
"I didn't mean that in a positive way. Patty I think he's been abused."  
"What? Are you nuts?"  
"It's just a feeling, I don't know. Maybe you should talk to him about it."  
"The school’s got a worldwide reputation for being one of the best. I don't think you know what you're talking about."  
Tom came running back from the backside of the house wanting to drink something but his mum and aunt didn't hear or see him.  
"But he's so different. Until yesterday he hadn't smiled a single time. And he always had a grin on his face."  
"Yes, he also was a wild child. Hardly to control, always getting into trouble. But not anymore. And I'm grateful for that."  
"Just ask him. Okay."  
"What? Has anyone abused you? You can't ask a child something like that!"  
Paralysed he stood there for a moment before his hands and knees started shaking. They kept talking but he didn't listen any longer, he just turned and ran as far as his feet would carry him.

He had no idea how long he had been sitting under the huge oak tree in the nearby forest when he heard people calling his name. His face was swollen from tears once more. Suddenly he felt the urge to run, to run as far away as he could. But as he got up to do just that Ella appeared behind the tree and immediately shouted "He's here."  
She walked towards him, grabbed his hand and tugged him along with her. Soon their uncle appeared as well.  
"Jesus, Tom. What happened?"  
He just shrugged his shoulders and followed them like a zombie back to the house. When his mum and aunt finally saw him they both just stared in disbelieve but it was his aunt who spoke first.  
"We've been worried sick about you. What happened? Gosh, look at your knees!"  
Until then he hadn't noticed the pain, now he looked down and saw his knees where totally covered in dried blood. When had he fallen? He couldn't remember.  
"Come on." His aunt put her hand on his shoulder and led him inside, his mum followed them. They went to the downstairs bathroom and made him sit on the closed toilet. His aunt got their first aid kit and handed it to his mum. "I'll leave the two of you alone."  
Tom didn't care he just sat there staring at nothing, he didn't even flinch when his mum started cleaning his wounds.  
"Why did you run?" No answer, he just kept staring to a fixed point. "Have you heard us talking? – Did something happen? If yes, then you have to tell me. We'll call the police. So?"  
Her tone was what kept him from saying anything, she sounded like "please keep silent" and there wasn't much love or concern in her voice as well. Had it been his aunt...  
"Look at you! You ripped the new t-shirt I've bought you."  
Now he flinched expecting a slap which didn't come but she almost had. What was wrong with that boy? Always ruining his newest clothes, never the things he had longer?!  
Finally he moved and took the bottle with disinfecting fluid and the cotton ball from her applying it to himself.  
Nodding briefly she got up and left him alone.

When he hadn't shown up in the dining room half an hour later it was his aunt who went looking for him. And she found him sitting shirtless on his bed and sewing the torn t-shirt back together. She smiled at him as he looked up at her.  
"I don't think it's worth saving. It's totally torn."  
"I'm sorry."  
"Don't be. The most important is that you are okay, never mind the t-shirt." He didn't want to but he couldn't stop the tears from falling. "Shhhh. It's okay." She wrapped an arm around him and was shocked at just how thin he was as she could clearly feel every single bone through his skin. Gently she tugged the torn fabric and the needle from his shaking hands.  
"Tom, has anyone hurt you?" Opening his mouth to tell her he found that he couldn't. He couldn't speak about the things that had happened which was answer enough for her.  
Silently they just sat there until his tears had subsided. "Turn on your sweats and a warm sweater, the others are waiting already. Or would you rather sleep in here?"  
Shaking his head he stood up and headed over to the closet.

A while later they were all rolled up in their sleeping bags in the huge tent. They were telling ghost stories to each other before finally lying down in order to sleep. But once more Tom couldn't, he barely slept more than four or five hours a night. Only in the morning when the sun was coming up he could sleep peacefully. In the dark he always was afraid. Staring at the top of the tent he just lay there and listened to the others sleeping until the quiet voice of his little sister startled him. "Tom?" She was lying next to him and reached for his arm.   
"Hmm. What is it?"  
"I can't sleep."  
"Me neither."  
"Please tell me a story."  
"Okay. Lets see. Once upon a time..."  
He made up a story about a prince and a dragon and after a while she had fallen asleep.

The next morning they had to pack their stuff and after lunch they were leaving. His aunt hugged him tightly and whispered in his ear "Tell her. She'll understand it."  
Well, he had tried a couple of days later saying he didn't want to go back to the school, that he would go wherever they wanted him to go just not back there. Unfortunately his dad heard his pleads and shouted at him for being ungrateful for the huge chance he offered him.  
So it came that he was brought back to his own personal nightmare.

 

*****

 

"Uncle Tom?"  
He slowly woke. Where was he?  
"Uncle Tom? Wake up. You have a bad dream." A warm hand was placed on his cheek. His eyes shot open and he realised he had been crying, quite a lot actually, as his pillow was soaked with his tears.  
"Uncle Tom?"  
Damn, he must have scared the shit out of his godson. He quickly wiped his eyes and rolled over to turn on the lamp on his nightstand. "What is it, mate?"  
He looked at the child and was immediately pulled in for a hug by the three-year-old. Surprised he just lay there letting the boy comfort him. He actually ran his small fingers through his hair. Smiling he wrapped one of his arms around the child. "Thanks, mate. I'm feeling better already. Sorry if I scared you, though."  
"It's okay uncle Tom. Mummy always makes me hot chocolate when I had a nightmare."  
"Does she?"  
"Yes."  
"Hmm? Sounds good. Do you want one as well?"  
Eagerly the boy nodded and they headed for the kitchen.

It was nearly four o'clock when they went back to bed. Ben almost immediately fell asleep when Tom had covered him with the blanket. He himself changed the tear-soaked pillow to another one and lay down as well, only that he didn't find a single minute of sleep, not till the sun was coming up.

Just five minutes after he had fallen into a light slumber his alarm clock went off. He quickly silenced it and rolled out of bed. His visitor turned slightly but didn't seem to wake. Tom grabbed some clothes and headed for the bathroom, he needed a shower.  
When he was finished he stepped out only to find his godson standing in front of him. Hastily he got a towel and covered himself.  
"Morning, mate. Everything alright?"  
"I need to pee, uncle Tom."  
"Oh. Sure." He wrapped the towel around his waist and helped the boy onto the toilet.

 

*****

 

Andrea woke after a, thankfully, dreamless night. Her morning routine was the same as usually. Because the outfit had worked so good the day before she decided to go on with that.  
When she was finished she stood in front of her mirror and nodded appreciative before opening another button on her blouse. She couldn't wait to see his face when he saw her. Only those damn glasses...

Half an hour later, she stood in the elevator going up checking her clothes again in the big mirror. Shit! She had totally forgotten about that. Now Michael and James could see her as well!  
A moment later her phone rang: James, of course.  
"Hi, Eva." She said teasingly.  
"What the hell are you doing? Do you want a job in his strip club. For God's sake, Andrea!"  
"Good morning to you, too. And I only want to distract him. Maybe something slips out of him."  
"If there'll slip something out it won't be something that helps us. I don't want you to get in trouble."  
"I know and I appreciate your concern. But I'm a grown up. Okay?!"  
"Thank God, Michael isn't here. He would kick your ass. At least close two more buttons on your blouse."  
"Okay, okay." Well, she could open them again as soon as she stepped out. Right that moment the elevator doors slid open and the mirror was gone. Grinning she said "Done. And now if you'll excuse me Eva, I have to work."  
"Be careful Andrea."  
"Bye." She didn't wait for a response and just hung up before ringing the doorbell.

She heard a loud squeal from behind the door and a smile spread on his face that widened even as the little boy opened the door for her.  
"Hello, Andrea."  
"Hi, Ben. Everything okay?"  
"What did I tell you? And probably your parents as well!" Tom appeared behind him looking a bit annoyed. "Morning, Andrea." To her amusement his eyes immediately dropped to her cleavage.  
"Morning."  
"Back to you, little man! You can't just open the door like that when you don't know who it is."  
"But it's only Andrea."  
"Thank God. What it was someone who wants to hurt you?"  
"Why should they?"  
"Because they're bad people." Tears welled up in the boys arm and Andrea smiled slightly at him. "Oh, sweety. Come here. Don't cry." Tom knelt down on the floor and hugged Ben tightly. "Just wait for me or another adult next time. Okay?"  
The boy nodded and cuddled even more against Tom.  
He'd surely be a good dad someday, she found herself thinking.  
"What's up, doc?" Tom asked him in best Bugs Bunny matter and she started giggling along with the child. Ben looked at Tom for a moment and then ran away screaming "Catch me, if you can!"  
Tom's eyes met Andrea's and he gave her a warm smile that nearly melted her heart before quickly getting on his feet and running after the boy.  
Turning towards the hall the doorbell rang again she quickly turned back again and opened.   
"Oh, good morning. You must be the new secretary. My names Benedict Cumberbatch. Nice to meet you."  
"Andrea Riseborough. Nice to meet you too. You're here to pick up your son, right?"  
"Yes." From somewhere behind her they heard the child scream in joy. "Sounds like they're having a good time."  
"Definitely. Come in." Together they headed down the hallway towards the laughing child.  
"So, how's working for Tom so far?"  
"Alright, I guess."  
"Good. He's a great guy. Best friend you can imagine. But you don't want to piss him off, believe me."  
WTF? Was that a warning?  
"Ahm, okay?"  
Tom and Ben Junior came into view and once more she had to giggle. The boy was standing on the leather sofa in Tom's office while he was on the floor on all fours barking like a dog. Then the boy saw them "Daddy!" With outstretched arms he came running over to him.  
Smiling she went over to her desk and started her computer while the two men were shaking hands.  
"Andrea, would you look after the little gentleman for a moment. We've got somethings to talk about."  
"Of course." Shit. If only they had a bug in there already.

The two of them had disappeared into the office, so she thought she could try to get something out of the boy.  
"Did you have fun at your uncle's?"  
"Yes, you can see the whole city from there."  
"Wow. Really?"  
"Yes. Even the London Eye."  
"That's cool. Is it close to his apartment?"  
"Hmm. Yes. You also could see the Tower Bridge, St. Paul's..." The boy kept naming every single landmark in the whole town. Well, he was just a child and probably exaggerating.   
"How far di..." Damn, the door of Tom's office opened and they came back out.

Tom led them to the door where they talked and soon there was another male voice involved. Damian as it sounded. She went to the kitchen to get a coffee but really to listen to their conversation but they just talked about cars, girls and sports. Typical male!  
When she got bored of their conversation she got back to her desk and continued her research.   
A while later Tom and Damian appeared in her office and after greeting her the two of them went into Tom's office, each one a cup of coffee in hand.

 

*****

 

Tom and Damian were just talking about their new supplier from Morocco. Their test delivery of 10 kilograms of meth would arrive the same night, hopefully.  
"Okay, we'll see how that goes. And..." A knock on the door interrupted him. Evans stuck his head in looking apologetic at them.  
"Sorry to disturb you but Chris said I should show you something."  
"Sure. Come in."  
He closed the door behind him and made sure it actually was closed. Then he walked round Tom's table and opened a file on his computer. Curiously the three men stared at the screen as Andrea's office appeared and after a quick glance around she started searching every single folder and cabinet before heading into Tom's office.  
“This is from yesterday afternoon.”  
"Well, I guess that's proof enough. She's a damn copper. What do we do with her?"  
"Not quite sure yet. But as long as she's wearing those glasses nothing. Keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't plant bugs somewhere. If she does, tell me."  
"Yes, boss." To Tom's surprise Evans was clenching his fists till his knuckles were white. Good, then he wasn’t completely hopeless.

 

*****

 

Michael had driven to the building in a van to make it look like he belonged to some maintenance company (and he needed a ladder which wouldn't fit into another car). He had parked the car near the spot where they wanted to install the camera.   
Just when he had put up the ladder a car arrived, Hiddleston's right hand Lewis. Even that prick drove an expensive sports car.  
Shaking his head in disgust he continued his task and after about 20 minutes the camera was in place. He called James to check if the angle was right and, as it obviously was, he packed his stuff back together and left. Time to nail that bastard!


	9. Confession

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tom finally admits something, unexpectedly.

Like most other evenings in the last three weeks Tom was on his way to Alica. He always fucked her roughly before falling asleep in her arms. He had spent a fortune with her in that time but it was worth it. He felt so good and relaxed that even the cops following him everywhere didn't really bother him. The only thing he found concerning was that he often pictured Andrea below him when he hammered his hard cock into Alica.  
He had to screw her some time soon, otherwise he'd go slowly mad. It was kind of like with a forbidden fruit, he knew he shouldn't which made the temptation just bigger. And if he wasn't mistaken she wanted him too. Occasionally he caught her staring at him while licking her lips or biting her lower lip or even squeezing her thighs together. But how?  
He was being followed so he couldn't just go over to her's, too dangerous for both of them. The same was true for the office. He pulled into the underground car park and watched the car following him pull up at the curb. At first he hadn't noticed them but then one night the other driver got too close and he knew.   
He parked the car and went upstairs to the brothel which wasn't obviously there from the outside. The building was a normal apartment building, at least on the papers. Well, and it actually was, apart from one floor.  
Once he had arrived on the right floor he headed straight for Alica's room greeting the girls on his way there. Like always he knocked on her open door before going in he wasn't a cave man after all.  
"Hi. How are you, Sir?"  
"Alright. You?" Closing and locking the door behind him he walked into the room slowly pulling off his clothes. She immediately was there and helped him to unbutton his shirt. When he tugged down his pants she wanted to reach for his crotch but he stopped her.  
"Don't. Not yet. Can we just lay and cuddle for a moment."   
"Yes, sure Sir."  
Spooning they laid on her bed with him placing gentle kisses to her cheek and neck occasionally. But then he grew hard behind her and she knew what he wanted from her. Wiggling her hips against him she made sure he got harder before she reached behind her to grab him.  
"I want to fuck your mouth tonight. Is that okay?"  
"Sure."

About two hours later they were coming down from their high together and, as usual, Tom's head was on her chest. He always loved to fall asleep like that, the soft globes of her breasts beneath him.  
"Sir?"  
"Hmm?" Sleepy he looked at her.  
"I will be on holidays for the next two weeks."  
"Oh. Are you going somewhere?"  
"Going to Ibiza with a friend."  
"Nice." He cuddled back into his previous position.  
"Will you miss me?"  
He thought about it and yes, he would but not really her. For him it was a business relationship, nothing more. He paid her for her services and not bad. "Yes. Probably."  
"I'll miss you, too. You and your thick, beautiful cock!"  
Not long after that he was fast asleep.

 

*****

 

James sat in the car outside of what they thought was Hiddleston's apartment building. It was his second night in a row and he felt so tired.  
At first they hadn't quite managed to follow him as he was driving way too fast and if they couldn't nail him for anything else then for speeding.  
Finally after about a week Michael had followed him on his motorbike and found out where he was going. After that it hadn't been a problem as they knew where he was going.   
Luckily Patrick had recruited two more agents they could trust. Nick Hoult was their IT and technique specialist and had managed to hide bugs in mugs that looked like the ones they had at the office. But so far they hadn't caught anything unusual, only normal business transactions. However it could only be a matter of time.  
The other one on their team now was, and he first couldn't believe it, his wife. They had sat on their sofa one evening and she turned towards him saying "I know who you're after. Hiddleston. Night Club owner, potential drug dealer and so on."  
Well, she had heard Patrick talk to Nick about him and, as she knew anyway, she was in their team, mostly doing the observation during the day.  
Since they had started following him there hadn't been a single hint he was involved in something illegal either and James slowly started thinking that they were waisting their time. And he was pretty sure Andrea was thinking the same. It was going to be another long night!

 

*****

 

Andrea had smuggled in two of the mugs at a time replacing two others, finally they now had eight of their bugged ones in there and so far only had got normal business talk. She was getting sick of it. That job wasn't what she had been training for, she couldn't even remember the last time she'd fired a gun! And then there was the tension between her and Tom. She usually spent her time before falling asleep with getting herself off whilst thinking about him. And he didn't make it easier for her by being a perfect gentleman. If he would be a total dick it surely wouldn't be so hard to resist him. The other day she nearly had asked him to go to the bathroom with her.  
Yesterday evening they had met to talk about their investigations talking about everything to make sure they hadn't missed anything. But apart from Michael no one was convinced anymore that Tom was involved in illegal actions.  
She couldn't wait for the morning to come and to go back to work to see him again...

 

*****

 

Tom had slept peacefully like he always did when he was with Alica. And feeling that rested his brain was working way better. As he got dressed an idea came to him how he could get rid of his followers. Grinning he took his stuff. As always he left a generous sum for Alica. He quickly scribbled a note saying "Enjoy your holidays. You deserve a break. Thanks."  
Why hadn't he gone on holidays in the last couple of years? Well, he had to run a business and he wasn't sure if Damian could deal with everything on his own.  
Grinning to himself he jumped in his car and headed out to the street. His observer was fast asleep as it looked which amused him as he floored the accelerator making the Jag roar. Unfortunately he had to stop at the traffic lights down the road and saw the other car turn in his rearview mirror. Not bothering for his follower he raced back to his apartment where he quickly showered, had breakfast and then headed down to his office.  
"Morning Tom."  
"Hi, Chris. Everything alright?"  
"Yes. Sure."  
"Wife and children okay, too?"  
"Yes, thank you." Tom took a mug from the cupboard making sure it was one of their's. Chris raised a brow at him gesturing at the mug but Tom just nodded him off. They had watched her on the security cameras how she had changed the mugs and had immediately marked them, making sure not to use them if they had something going. But now he was going to use it against them.  
Taking the steaming mug he headed for his office. He turned on his computer and dialed a number. Let the show begin.  
He let the phone on speakers and after the third ring someone picked up.  
"Superintendent Gatiss' office. My name's Helena. How may I help you?"  
"Hi, Helena. It's Tom. How are you?"  
"Oh, Tom. Hi. Fine. You?"  
"Not too bad. Is Mark in?"  
"Sure. Hang on a sec."  
"Thank you, darling. Have a great day."  
"You too. Bye."  
The phone went back to ringing and after four times his friend picked up.  
"Thomas! To what do I owe the pleasure?"  
"Hi, Mark. Everything good?"  
"Brillant. Actually was planning to come round tonight."  
"Great. Drinks are on me."  
"I take your word on that."  
"Sure. However, I need to ask you a favour."  
"What is it? Got caught speeding?"  
"No. I've got some of your men following me wherever I go."  
"What? Who?"  
"I don't know. But I can't go anywhere without being followed like some common criminal."  
"You sure they are cops?"  
"Yes. Well, whether it's the Yard once again or some other organisation I don't know."  
"Okay. I'll see what I can find out."  
"I'll try and get a picture of them. Probably makes it easier. They change the car every other day but last night and the night before it was the same guy. Dark hair, ginger beard."  
"Hmm? Okay. Don't worry Tom. I'll deal with it."  
"Thanks. See you tonight then."  
"Absolutely. See you."  
"Bye. And thanks, Mark."

 

*****

 

Michael didn't trust his ears as he listened to Hiddleston talking to Gatiss in that friendly tone. WTF! That meant they could forget about following him or at least they had to find another way. Maybe with the CCTV cameras. He had to ask Nick about whether that was possible. And should one of them got fotographed by him or one of his men they most likely could forget their jobs, never mind their operation. Fuck!  
He quickly dialed James' number who possibly still sat in the car in front of the building.  
"Morning Mike."  
"Morning. You're still in position?"  
"Yes. Sure. He arrived about an hour ago at the building. Why?"  
"That prick just called the Superintendent telling him he was being followed. He wants to take a pic of who's following him. So I suggest if you don't want to be fired you get out of there."  
"Shit! Thanks mate. I'll come over then."

 

*****

 

In the evening Tom automatically jumped into his car and drove to the brothel. He just had a few drinks with Mark in the club and after that he just didn't want to be alone.  
Half way there he, however, remembered that Alica wouldn't be there and nearly turned around. But there were more girls, why not just fuck another one? And he still could go home afterwards.  
He didn't drive as fast as usual to make sure he wasn't followed anymore and it didn't look like he was. Good!  
Mark had told him he had talked to the heads of all departments imaginable but no one had confirmed that they were following him or investigating against him. Well, of course not, as they surely knew Mark was his friend.  
They had first met shortly after he had opened the club and soon Mark was a regular and they really got along. Tom knew he could use friends in high places but with Mark he didn't have to fake friendship. They even met occasionally for a tennis match.

Tom parked his Jag on the usual spot and went upstairs. At first no one was to be seen but after a few moments Julie came around the corner.  
"Tom, how are you?"   
"Good. You?"  
"Very fine. You know, Alica isn't here."  
"Yeah, she told me. Anybody else free?"  
"Hang on, I'll check. - Our guest. She's better again. Got the okay from the doctor last Friday."  
"No. Not her."  
"Ahm, Salma is, but she..."  
"Somebody saying my name?" She came walking towards them in her leather corset, panties and boots.

"What do you say? I know you're more into the submissive type but she's hot, isn't she?"  
"Ahm? Sure. I just..."  
"I can be quite gentle as well." Boldly she winked at him and took a step closer.  
"Okay. Why not?"  
"Great, then lets go, slave!" She grabbed his arm and led him towards her room.  
Two dominants?! Tom wasn't sure at all how that would work out, but yes, she was hot. Definitely!  
She closed and locked the door behind them while checking out her customer. Nice butt, that was for sure.  
"So how do we do this?" He turned and looked down to her. Despite her four inch high-heels he still towered over her. Damn those eyes, she thought.  
"Well, you're paying. So you tell me!"  
He hadn't been dominated before by a girl and right that moment he found it hot actually. His cock was already growing hard.   
"Okay. I guess it's time to try something new. But you won't hit me. At all. And nothing anal."  
"Fine. Then take off your clothes, slave."  
After taking off his jacket he pulled his shirt over his head and when he looked at her again, he caught her licking her full lips. She stepped closer to him and reached for the button of his jeans. She popped it open and palmed his obvious erection through his jeans.  
"Wow, such a big boy!"  
Pulling the zipper down, she tugged his pants down his hips along with his boxers freeing his pulsing erection. She squeezed his heavy balls a couple of times until precum leaked from his tip.  
"Now help me out of these annoying clothes."  
Now he was licking his lips as he opened the hooks on the front of her corset one by one. Finally she stood before him, chest bare, her big tits graving his attention. But he wasn't finished yet, so he went down on his knees to take off her boots. His erection standing proud, he freed her feet and looking up at her he tugged his fingers into the waistband of her panties seeking her permitance. Nodding she smiled down at him and he tugged down her panties revealing her dripping cunt.  
She stepped closer to him and pressed his face to her belly, his light stubble feeling a bit scratchy there.  
"I want you to make me cum, slave. Not your with thick, beautiful cock though. I'll take care of that later."  
Growling like an animal he immediately pusheded his fingers into her without much warning.  
"Ay! Dios!"  
He felt her walls clamping down around his fingers. Had she come already?  
"Go on."  
Nodding he started to pump his fingers into her crooking them to brush over her g-spot while his thumb played with her clit.  
"Such a good boy." She started moaning and threw her head back. Damn, he definitely knew how to touch a woman. Then his tongue replaced his thumb and he sucked at her clit, hard, which was too much for her and she came around his fingers.  
"You know, nobody ever has made me cum so fast. I think you deserve a reward. On the bed with you."

First she rode him hard and fast, then he fucked her doggy style, next they sucked each other off. Heavily panting they lay next to each other, but to her shock he was growing hard again.  
"Still didn't have enough?"  
"Somehow not. Sorry. But we don't have to."  
"No problem. But you'll do the work this time."  
"Ehehehe. Sure. Lay back, spread your legs and relax."  
Smiling at him she just did that and a moment later he entered her quite roughly. Both of them were moaning in pleasure. Salma ran her hands down his back and grabbed his ass cheeks.  
Right that moment he froze and his facial expression changed into horror. She knew that expression just to well and immediately dropped her hands.  
For a moment he remaind still before he continued to thrust into her and soon he was back to normal. 

A while later they silently laid next to each other and recovered from their highs. Salma was sitting with her back against the headboard and Tom laid with his head on her thigh next to her rolled up into a ball, his lower half covered with the thin sheets.   
She ran her hand through his soft curls which he seemed to enjoy. For a while she thought about what to say, maybe it was the best to remain silent but somehow she couldn't. It felt to her like he was … lost!  
"I was 15 when I was raped for the first time." He looked slightly shocked at her, but there wasn't the usual pity in his eyes like normally with people who hadn't experienced something like that. "I was at a Catholic school. And one day I had forgotten my homework, I had to stay longer. Quedarse, cómo se dice?"  
"Detention." He answered in a sad voice.  
"¿Cómo? Te llamas español?"  
"Un pocito."  
"Anyway, the teachers there were all priests. I had to come to the front of the room. He held me down over his desk and raped me. I was crying and at home I told my mum. She told dad who went there and beat the shit out of the guy. Next day I went back there and was raped by two others. Daddy killed them and we left the country."  
Tom's eyebrows shot up, he didn't know what to say. Tears welled up in his eyes and he started shaking lightly.  
"Esta bien. Shhhh." The tears were running uncontrolably by now and she hugged him closer to her. "How about you?"  
He couldn't answer, he had never said it out loud, to no-one.  
Silently they laid there until he had slightly recovered.  
"You can tell me. Don't worry."  
"How did you know in the first place?"  
"Your face when I touched you. I know that expression."  
"But still you're here?"  
"It's not too bad as long as I'm in control."  
Nodding he thought about it and he couldn't agree more. For him it was the same. Somehow she made him feel comfortable and he whispered "14."  
"What?!" She looked totally shocked at him. But despite that and a voice in him screaming not to, he told her everything, from how he felt abondoned by his parents to how he had tried to kill himself after he had been raped quite severly.  
By the time he was finished talking it was already 3 am. And he felt good which was almost unbelievable for him. Most likely because he knew that she had had a simular experience.  
"What happened? Did they have to go to prison?"  
"I don't think anybody ever said anything, but shall we say they had a quite painful death."  
"Did you...?"  
"I didn't say that." He surely wouldn't confess a murder to her. He barely knew her.  
"Well, who ever did it: well done."  
He smiled and nodded. "Do you want a different job? One that's better paid and you won't have to be naked for?" He acted out of impulse following his gut and hoped he wouldn't regret it.  
"Sure. But it is difficult. I'm here illegally, you know."  
"Oh, that's no problem. Don't worry."  
"What would I have to do?"  
"Well, I could use enhancement in my team."  
She rose her brows curiously. "Which team?"  
"Lets just say your language skills could be quite helpful.“ His eyes landed on the clock on the bedside table. “Shit, I totally waisted your time. I'm so sorry."  
"No, no. Esta bien." He stood up grabbing his undies. "You shouldn't be driving now. So why don't you stay?"  
Thinking about it he pulled up his boxers before nodding. "If that's okay for you."  
"Claro."  
He got his phone and started typing. "I just text my colleague that I'll come in later than normal."  
When he had finished his text to Damian he got back into bed next to her.  
"Do you mind if I hold you?"  
"Not at all."  
He tightly wrapped his arm around her waist pressing his forehead against her shoulder. "Thanks for listening."  
"No problem. Have you ever talked to anyone before about it?"  
"No. Never." Now he finally had and he actually felt good to finally have told it to someone, so it didn't take long and he was fast asleep.


	10. Changes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So this is the chapter where everything changes!
> 
> Oh, and some smut coming up!  
> Enjoy!

The weeks went by and Andrea was going mad. Tom was the perfect gentleman and looking absolutely fabulous. She had the day off because she had a doctors appointment, at least that was what she had told him. But the truth was they had a meeting about the operation. She wasn't quite sure what about though.  
Instead of a skirt and blouse she went for a pair of jeans and t-shirt. Luckily she wouldn't have to wear those damn glasses, she thought when grabbing her leather jacket and boots. God, how she had missed to ride her motorbike.

Finally she arrived at their meeting point which was a conference room in a hotel. Everything top secret, of course. Michael, James and Anne-Marie were already there and as soon as they saw her they greeted her and made small talk.   
Finally director Steward came in with another older man. All of them sat down and looked at director Steward expectingly.  
"Ladies and gentlemen, we're here today to talk about the latest developments in the Hiddleston case. Our friends from the CIA have caught a call between a Mexican drug baron, they have been investigating against for a while, and our dear friend. However, the call isn't nearly enough to proof anything. Director De Niro is here to inform us about what they know."  
Now the other man stood up and nodded at them "The thing is with the del Toro cartel is, we've never been able to proof anything against them. However, we know exactly that they are dealing huge amounts of all sorts of drugs. But they are careful and clever. Listen to this."  
He pressed a few keys on the computer and the recording started.  
"¡Hola!"  
"¡Hola Guillermo! Tom aqui. ¿Cómo estas?"  
"Aah. Thomas. Bien. ¿Y tu?"  
...

They listened but none of them really understood much. Andrea only caught that they were speaking about tequila, but other than that... The others also just shrugged their shoulders.  
"So, for those who didn't understand it, Hiddleston ordered tequila, loads of it. Del Toro asks which one, and he says a bit of every sort. Nothing illegal about that, right?  
I understand that you, Miss Riseborough are undercover at Hiddleston's office, correct?"  
"Yes."  
"So, we need you to find an invoice or something from del Toro, something connecting the two of them. Look in the computer system if you can find old ones, try to copy them. That will help us to take out not only one but two very big fish!"  
"Why don't you just check the delivery for drugs, and if you find something you can arrest both."  
"Well, as I said before: they are clever. The shipment doesn't have either their addresses on it. Our chance is to take it out when Hiddleston picks up the stuff from their middleman. And you'll have to find out who and when that is!"  
"And how should I do that?"  
"Well, you've got bugs in his office don't you?" Director Steward asked.  
"Yes, but so far we haven't got anything suspicious." James quickly said.  
"Well, what do we have?" Both elder men looked at them.  
Michael cleared his throat. "Not too much unfortunately. We've been following him for a couple of days but he's noticed that and called the Superintendent. We couldn't risk to blow our cover."  
De Niro rose his brow and director Steward quickly explained "Hiddleston is good friends with some influential people. One of them being the Superintendent of the London police, Mark Gatiss. He's still sniffing around trying to find out who's after his buddy. That's one of the reasons we meet here today."  
"Fucking shit!"  
"However, we managed to track him down with the CCTV cameras. Nick."  
"Yes. We been able to follow him despite not actually following him. However, that's not always possible. When we followed him he went to this apartment building every night which made us believe that's where he lives." Nick put up a pic of the building and if Andrea saw right, director Steward flinched lightly on seeing the building. She looked over at the others to see whether any of them had noticed as well. Anne-Marie was looking at her questioningly raising a brow. Andrea just nodded briefly while Nick kept going.  
"We have checked the building's registration but his name doesn't appear on any of them. So either he's living there under a different name or he isn't at all. What supports the latter theory is that he hasn't gone there for almost three weeks now."  
"Three weeks?" Andrea asked.  
"Yes. Why?"  
"Because about three weeks ago that Spanish chick turned up at the office. Salma Hayek. Maybe she lives there. And maybe she's his girlfriend." Andrea had to think of the many times she had been in Tom's office with him recently fucking each others brains out. A spark of jealousy going through her every time.  
"Who is she?" De Niro wanted to know.  
"We don't quite know much about her. Only that she has a Spanish passport and is working for him and occasionally spreading her legs for him." Michael noted cynically.  
"What else do we have?"  
"Nothing really. The office is clean. There aren't the smallest hints of illegal actions."  
"Then look harder!" Director Steward seemed furious. "What the hell am I paying you for?"  
"Well, I'm trying to hack their computer system. But so far without luck." Nick claimed.  
"Alright. Miss Riseborough keep your eyes and ears open to find a proof for the connection between Hiddleston and del Toro. We're gonna bust those pricks!"

After the two elders had left the five of them went over to their little observation office and sat together talking about what they could do to find out more.  
"Oh, by the way, did any of you catch director Steward's look when he saw that apartment building?"  
"Oh, yes. He knows something," Anne-Marie agreed.  
"What do you mean?" The three men looked dumbfounded.  
"Well, when you showed the picture his face changed. Maybe he knows someone who lives there."  
"Okay. Nick, check out any connections with director Steward and that building, plus that brunette sex bomb and the building. Andrea why don't you mention that neighbourhood to her or Hiddleston. But carefully. Say you've got a friend living in that area or something."  
"Okay."  
"I'll try to get into the building and ask for our friends. Lets see what we can find out."   
They talked a while longer before heading back to their routine.

 

*****

 

Tom's day had been a fucking misery. Andrea hadn't been there which made the whole shit worse because he had to do her work as well, as Damian was busy getting the newly delivered cocaine to it's new owners. Stuck in work his phone had rung and Damian told him the delivery wasn't of the usual quality. He was furious and he had immediately tried to call del Toro. That wasn't how their usual business went. Unfortunately the guy didn't pick up, considering the time difference it was no big surprise. He'd just try again later.

After the stressy day at the office he headed upstairs changed into his running gear and ran until his lungs were burning. Finally he got back home showered and made dinner. Sitting on his terrace he ate while enjoying the sunset. If only he had someone to share that moment with.  
Salma had been at his place a couple of times and they had fucked like rabbits, even on the balustrade of his terrace. But it wasn't really her he wanted and today had made that quite clear to him.   
He missed Andrea, especially in the moments during lunch break when they were talking about music, movies or other things. Maybe he should just ask her out. But how? He didn't want her colleagues to catch that.  
When he had finished he quickly cleaned up and got his phone out. He needed to talk to del Toro. The phone rang for ages until it finally was picked up.  
"¡Hola!" A female voice answered.  
"Hi. Soy Tom. Quiero hablar con Guillermo. Es muy importante."  
"No esta aqui ahora." She didn't say much more just hung up. Tom wanted to scream. Had she been standing next to him he'd possibly hit her.  
Clenching his fists he went to his kitchen and drank a huge glass of whiskey.  
Half an hour later he tried to call again but this time nobody picked up at all. After that he tried five more times with the same result.  
Totally in rage he headed for his office downstairs. If they didn't feel the need to talk to him he would at least get back his money. Once downstairs he opened his safe with the invoice in it and turned on his computer. While it started he tried again and finally someone picked up. This time he didn't think about good manners, he had enough of this shit.  
"¡Hola!"  
"Listen, I want to talk to Guillermo. Now! If you don't get him on the phone within a minute I'll pull back my money and get the police on you!"  
"Un momento, señor." There was more talking and only a few seconds later she was back. "Señor, it will take a moment."  
"Whatever!" Massaging his temples he tried to will away the headache he had. The computer had started and he logged into his Swiss bank account entering the numbers he needed to get his money back. Just when he wanted to confirm the transaction Guillermo's voice came over the phone. "¡Hola gringo! What's wrong?"  
"Are you fucking out of your mind? You sent me cocaine I wouldn't sell to my worst enemy and you ask me what's wrong! Fuck you!"  
"What are you talking about?"  
"The cocaine is useless. In some of the bags are even plastic parts and shit like that. In one was a chopped off finger. What the fuck?!"  
"Oh. Lo siento. I had no idea. Lo siento mucho. You'll get a new one as soon as possible."  
"I don't know. I think I have enough of that shit!"  
"Please, Tom. You'll get an extra five kilograms. Somos amigos."  
"All right. But don't touch that money on that Cayman Island account or you'll be in deep shit, amigo!"   
He didn't wait for a reply just hung up. He had settled the matter but somehow he still was furious, his pulsing headache only making things worse. Pacing up and down in his office he decided he needed to smash something, so he headed to the kitchen and opened the cupboard. He took mug after mug and dish after dish smashing every single one onto the floor shattering them into a million pieces.  
Exhausted, tired and somehow sad he slumped onto the floor, tears starting to run down his face.

 

*****

 

A few miles away Nick was sitting on his computer trying to hack into Tom's computer when he heard a loud scream coming from the monitor that recorded what their mugs got.  
Hiddleston was screaming, that was for sure but it wasn't quite loud enough to properly understand it. It kept going for a while, Nick was hoping he could make it clearer and started working immediately on the audio file.  
Then everything was quiet, at least for a bit and then he heard footsteps and finally the shattering of porcelain. When it was over he heard someone crying. Had he just witnessed a murder? No idea but he had to know and continued working on the audio.

 

*****

 

Tom's head was pulsing, he needed some aspirin. Wiping his face he got up and opened one of the drawers. He opened the box with the painkillers and wondered how much it would take to kill him. Finally he took three, drowning them with a bottle of beer.   
Slowly he headed down the hall again and went into his office. Shutting down his computer he looked out over the city. Why couldn't he be like everybody else out there? Happy. With a family.   
He must have been a serial killer in a former life to deserve all this. Yes, he had money, loads of it. But the truth was he'd rather have none at all, living in a tiny apartment with a wife and child than have all this.  
He turned off the light and went over to the leather sofa. Lying down he grabbed the small blanket laying on it's back and closed his eyes. It took him almost all night to finally fall asleep.

 

*****

 

Andrea woke in the middle of the night after having one of those weird sex dreams about Tom again. The last couple of weeks she had dreams about things she never even thought could turn her on. But here she was in her bed, her shorties soaked with her juices after dreaming about Tom spanking her until she came.  
She lay awake for almost two hours before she finally could sleep again. There was something she had to do about this, she only had no idea what.

Her morning routine was the same as always, but somehow she had come to dread going to work. The job wasn't really exciting, it was the same day after day and hadn't it been for Tom she possibly wouldn't go there any more, as in her eyes the whole operation was pointless. What should they investigate when there was nothing to investigate?  
Sighing she grabbed her glasses and headed for the tube. 

Damian let her in saying he had an assignment for her later. Rolling her eyes she went down the hallway to her office. Tom's office door was half-way open and she stole a glance in but he didn't sit at his desk. Shrugging her shoulders she went to her desk and put her stuff down while starting the computer. Shaking her head she noticed that she had forgotten to put away her mug two days ago.  
Suddenly she was startled by a sound coming from Tom's office. What on Earth was that? She went to the door again and carefully knocked before opening it. The desk was still empty, but then another sound drew her attention - a light snore.  
There on the sofa laid Tom legs tugged to his chest, only half of him covered by a thin blanket. He was wearing a pair of torn sweats and a thin white t-shirt with holes in it. His face looked like an angel's with his long eyelashes and the incoming sunlight made his hair almost look golden.  
She took a step closer and her gaze somehow landed on his desk and what she saw made her blood freeze: on the top of the sheet there was a name she had heard only yesterday - del Toro. Was he involved with drugs after all? Curiously she walked over there and yes, it was an invoice for 100 crates of tequila. Shit! She just wanted to walk round the desk, her heart racing, to have a closer look as the doorbell startled her.  
She froze and carefully listened. Damian was talking to someone, a woman as it sounded. Then silence.  
"Andrea!" Shit, his voice was coming closer! On tiptoes she headed over to Tom pretending to pull the blanket more over him. Just in time. "There you are. What the hell... Tom?"  
She just shrugged her shoulders.  
"Listen, go to the lobby. There's a woman saying she's Tom's mother which I don't quite believe. Go to her and make sure she's not sniffing around while I talk to Tom."  
"Okay, sure."  
His mother? That could be interesting...  
She headed down the hallway and as she passed the kitchen, her jaw dropped. The whole floor was covered with shattered porcelain. Disbelievingly she closed her eyes for a moment thinking it would look different when she opened them again, but of course it didn't.   
Meanwhile an older woman came towards her and seeing her from the corner of her eyes she turned blocking the way.  
"Hello. Can I help you ma'am?"  
"Yes, I want to see my son?"  
"I'm not sure if he's in. Mr. Lewis is checking. Please have a seat in our lobby."  
The woman tried to pass her but Andrea grabbed her arm firmly but gently turning her around and led her down the hall again towards the sofas. Andrea turned her head making sure no-one was coming and asked "So you are Tom's mother?"  
"Yes. How is he?" Confused Andrea raised her brow. "Well, I haven't seen him for over ten years."  
"What?!" Was she joking?  
"It's complicated. He actually broke the contact years before that already. But we wanted to be there when he graduated from university, so we showed up there. He had tried to... He didn't want to talk though. I think, he thought - and probably still thinks - we don't care a..."  
"TELL HER TO FUCK OFF!" Both of them flinched at his loud voice.  
Tears welled up in the corner of her eyes. "I think he feels like we've given up on him. He was a very active child, always making trouble," she pulled a picture of a cute little boy with curly blond hair out of her pocket "so we thought a boarding school would be good for him, but..."  
Her hands began shaking and tears ran down her face. Andrea grabbed her hand as Damian came back. He looked pitiful at her before clearing his throat.  
"I'm afraid, he doesn't want to see you."  
She didn't answer, probably couldn't, nor did she move for a while. Damian left for his office at some point after gesturing to Andrea she should stay with her. Finally the woman stood up and Andrea brought her to the door.  
"I'm really sorry about this."  
"Well, it's my own fault really. I let him down when he needed me most. But could you maybe give him this." She handed her a card with her name and phone number.  
"Okay."  
"And please tell him I'm sorry."  
"I will."  
"Thank you."  
"No problem."  
"Bye."  
"Bye."

Furrowing her brows she watched the woman leave, maybe she could be useful for them. Finally she closed the door and turned when she passed the kitchen she heard Damian swearing in there. She opened the door and saw him collecting the pieces.  
"What happened?" She asked.  
"I don't have the slightest idea. But I won't ask Tom. He's in a fucking horrible mood. Especially now."  
Swallowing hard she saw one of their bugs laying in the pieces. Before Damian saw it and asked stupid questions she headed down the hall to her office. She still had one mug on her desk otherwise coffee wouldn't have been an option. But she stopped in her tracks when she passed Tom's office. The door was still half open and from the room came loud sobs. For a moment she stood there and listened before deciding how to proceed. She headed for her desk grabbed her phone and sent a quick message to her colleagues saying   
-Will be out for a moment.-  
After she had sent it she took off the glasses and put them onto her desk without turning them off to calm the others down, then she went to Tom's office. Lightly tabbing the door she entered the room. He was sitting on the sofa, the blanket over his right thigh, his elbows on his knees and his face buried in his hands.  
"Tom?" He didn't look up, so she just walked over to him and after a short moment she sat down next to him and wrapped an arm around him. At first she was shocked at how firm his muscled body felt and then about the fact he was shaking like a leave. What was going on?  
They sat like that for a while, at some point his head had fallen onto her shoulder his tears running from his face down soaking her blouse lightly.  
Finally Tom calmed down and shot up in shock. He didn't want to be crying in front of the whole fucking London police. Surprised he realised she wasn't wearing her glasses. Looking into her eyes he swallowed hard before whispering "I'm so sorry."  
"What for?"  
"For behaving like a child, first of all. Secondly for soaking your blouse and thirdly for wasting your time."  
"It's alright, Tom. Really. I don't know what is going on between you and your mum but if you want to talk about it, I'll be there for you."  
"Thank you." He took her hand in his and squeezed lightly, she'd never know how much that meant to him. "Wearing contacts today?" He just couldn't help it.  
"No. My glasses are on my desk. And you?" She looked down at him wrinkling her nose "Torn sweats and a t-shirt that looks like you've had it for at least ten years?!"  
Smiling he shrugged his shoulders.  
"I would bring you a coffee but someone smashed all the mugs."  
"Yeah. Might have been me. Was a dreadful day yesterday."  
He looked her in the eyes again smiling. There was nothing he wanted to do more in that moment than to kiss her...  
"Boss?" Damian stuck his head in the door "Everything alright?"  
"Sure."  
"Andrea, would you leave us alone for a moment."  
"Of course." She stood up letting go of his hand but he didn't, at least not immediately. So she turned around looking at him again and was rewarded with a heart-melting smile.  
"Thank you."  
"Any time."

As soon as Andrea had left, Damian's facial expression changed into anger.  
"What's wrong with you lately? Smashing all our cups and dishes, sleeping on the sofa in your office and..." His eyes landed on the sheet on his desk. "What's that?" He quickly walked over there and picked it up.   
"You let that lay around while we've got a fucking spy in the house? Did she see that?"  
"I don't know." Tom's headache was back, full force, maybe even worse than the night before.  
"Tom, we're all fucked if our cover is blown sky high. You've got a responsibility to all of us. And our families."  
Tom was getting angry now. Good for them that they had families but what about him?! "I didn't force any of you into doing anything illegal! You all did it of your own free will! Fuck!"  
Damian gestured for him to calm down, after all the wall wasn't soundproof.  
"And even if she saw it, it's just an invoice for tequila, nothing else." He picked up the paper and walked over to where his safe was hidden.  
"Yes, but it's got del Toro's name on it and the bank account on the Caymans."  
Tom didn't say anything, he just put the document back in the safe and walked over to his chair. The sun was up high already and added to his headache. Rubbing his temples he put his elbows on the table.  
"I'll check the security tapes to find out what she saw. And if she did, we both know what to do."  
"You can't kill a cop. And they surely record the stuff she catches with that camera. So killing her would only make it worse."  
"And what are we supposed to do?"  
"We? Who is we? They're after me and when they've got enough, I will be the one who gets accused."  
"But we're all in the same boat."  
"Are we? Who have they been following? Into whose office did they put a spy?"  
"Tom..."  
"I'm the idiot here. Yes, I've got the responsibility. But none of you protested when I raised your salaries! None!"  
"Just be careful, okay? You almost brought us down when you screwed Elisabeth. I think we're only still here because she, lets say, wasn't the brightest candle in the chandelier."  
"I FUCKING LOVED HER!" He didn't have to keep listening to that, so he got up and headed for the door.  
"Where are you going?"  
"NONE OF YOUR FUCKING BUSINESS!" He ripped open the door and caught Andrea's shocked glance. Giving her a little smile he said to her in his normal polite tone "I'll go home. I don't feel too well. If there's an important call just tell Damian. Thanks again. See you tomorrow."  
"I hope you'll feel better soon. See you."  
With that he turned and left leaving Damian standing dumbfounded.

 

*****

 

Andrea got back to her desk feeling unsure what to think of Tom now. On one hand he seemed to be a sensible and very kind man and on the other hand he was possibly dealing with drugs. She picked the glasses up and put them back into place before starting her work when Tom started screaming in his office.   
Unfortunately she didn't understand everything but it sounded like "force...illegal...your own free will." Well, the last word was clear. He must be really angry if he was screaming like that.   
After that it was quiet although they surely were still talking. Andrea took her mug and stood up but instead of going to the kitchen she stopped in front of Tom's office door listening if she understood anything. She could hear that they were talking but didn't understand a word, so she headed back to her desk and just when she was about to sit back down she heard Tom screaming on the top of his lungs. "I FUCKING LOVED HER!"  
Who was he talking about? Did it have something to do with his mum? Like to answer her he yelled again. "NONE OF YOUR FUCKING BUSINESS."   
Seconds later the door opened and seeing him she somehow expected he would scream at her as well, but it was quite the opposite.

After he had left she got up again, she just needed a coffee. Hopefully the coffee machine was still working. Damian stood in front of it waiting for the coffee to finish.  
"What was that about?" She asked casually.  
"He's having a bad day, I guess."  
"Do you know what's going on with his mum?"  
"No. And that's none of our business."  
"He seemed to be quite down."  
"Yes."  
"Maybe we shouldn't have let him leave by his own."  
"He's fine. Don't worry." He poured himself a cup. Where did he get a new cup that fast? Well, as he picked it up she kind of knew as there was the logo of the club on it.  
"Could save a mug?"  
"Looks like it. It was on my desk."  
He nodded eyeing her sceptically. 

The rest of the day was really boring, nothing happened and in the lunch break she actually missed Tom. They always were talking about so many stuff while they were preparing lunch. It almost felt like they had been friends for long years. She liked spending her lunch breaks with him and also the two Chrises. Damian on the other hand was a different matter, he sometimes was even hostile to her. Maybe he was behind everything, not Tom.

Finally she was at home and she hadn't even pulled off her glasses when her phone rang.  
"Hello James!"  
"Hi Andy! Mike's here as well."  
"Hi."  
"Hi Mike. What's up?"  
"What the hell were you thinking? Going in there without the glasses?!"  
Sighing she rolled her eyes "Men! He was totally down. You didn't need to see that."  
"But what if he..."  
"What? Raped me? He wasn't in any state to do something like that. By the way do we have any background on his family?"  
"Well, his dad is CEO of some insurance, his mother was an artist, his older sister works at the embassy in China and his younger sister is a doctor. But as far as we know they don't have any contact."  
"Hmm?" Andrea's fingers played with the card that had his mum's number on it. Maybe she should just call her.  
"Oh, good job with that invoice. We're on that."  
"Well, I didn't quite read everything. What was that?"  
"It looks like an ordinary invoice for booze but it's got a bank account on the Caymans on it, plus we have proof that Hiddleston has dealings with del Toro."  
"Have you ever thought about that it might not be him who's dealing with that shit?"  
"What do you mean?"  
"Maybe it's Lewis and he doesn't know about anything."  
"No. Hiddleston is the boss. That's for sure."  
"If you say so."  
"Andrea, be careful. He might seem nice but I assure you he's not!" Michael sounded totally embittered.  
"Sure. Oh, what about our mugs? Should we get in new ones?"  
"Not now. We're trying to find the supplier for the ones from the club."  
"And if I just bring some and say I just bought some?"  
"Hmm? Maybe. But we'll need to make some first."

They talked for a while longer and when they finally hung up Andrea changed into her running gear and went for a run thinking about the events of the day. Afterwards she ordered a pizza and quickly jumped in the shower.  
Just when she dried herself off the doorbell rang. Wow, the pizza guy was pretty fast today. She let him into the building saying "Third floor" through the intercom before quickly getting her robe and wallet before heading to the door...

 

*****

 

Once in his apartment Tom headed to his kitchen where he got a bottle of whiskey. Taking a huge gulp he headed for the bathroom. He downed three aspirin with some whiskey and walked over to his bedroom. He let down the jalousie, took off his clothes and lay down pulling the covers over his naked body up to his ears. Finally the headache subsided and he fell asleep.

Hours later he woke but he wasn't alone any longer. Blinking his eyes he noticed that his head was resting on someone else’s thigh. The skin was soft and warm and not nearly as pale as his. Looking up he saw her naked body sitting against the headboard, one of his books in hand.  
"Hola Tom. ¿Cómo estas?"  
"Salma. What are you doing here."  
"I missed my fuck buddy. And Chris said you had a rough morning."  
"You could say that."  
"What happened?"  
"First the shit with the cocaine last night and then this morning my... my mum showed up."  
"What? What did she want?"  
"I don't know and I don't actually care. As far as I'm concerned she's dead. They all are." He sat up and put his head down on her shoulder. "Oh, could you do me a favour?"  
"Sure."  
"Call Guillermo. Tell him to change that account on the Caymans. Andrea might have seen a document with the details on it. I would myself but after last night I'm not sure I want to talk to him again so soon."  
"No problema. Zorra! Maybe you should fire her."  
"I... Maybe." He had thought about that actually but so far he couldn't think of a reason.  
"You like her, don't you?"  
He looked at her, his eyes widening. "Is it that obvious?"  
"Si. And I think she likes you too."  
"What?"  
"Well, whenever we were fucking in your office, she looked at me like she wanted to kill me. Es celosa."  
"Are you sure?"  
Salma nodded and ran her right hand up his thigh but to her surprise he stopped her.  
"Not now, okay?"  
"We haven't done it in three days."  
"I know."  
"You don't want me right now, do you?"  
"No. I'm sorry."  
"It's okay. Why don't you go over to her and talk to her?"  
"What? She's a bloody cop after all. I'd only be making a fool out of myself."  
"Since when are you so shy?"  
"I'm not. It's just I don't want to get her in trouble. You know, she actually comforted me after that woman was gone again. She even had taken off those glasses."  
"I'm telling you, she likes you."  
"But this just can't work."  
"Giving up so fast?"   
His stomach growled angrily at him. "What time is it?"  
"It's about 4.30. Come on we'll eat something."

After they had eaten she called Guillermo while he cleaned up. The last couple of weeks had been quite nice with her. They had become good friends, friends with benefits as you'd say. She knew more about him than anyone else, every little secret - even the one behind the scar on his left forearm.   
And he loved having her around, she was his friend, business partner and fuck buddy. They really liked each other but still there was something missing.  
"Fuck it." He whispered to himself and headed to his bedroom.  
He put on some dark blue boxers, a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt. Grabbing his phone and keys he waved at Salma who was still on the phone. She gave him the thumb up and smiling he headed for the underground parking lot.

Half an hour later he pulled up on the curb near Andrea's flat. On the way he had stopped to buy some flowers. All the time he had thought about what to say but couldn't think of anything, so he decided he would just be spontaneous saying whatever came to his mind.   
Inhaling deeply he finally grabbed the flowers and headed to her door. He rang her bell and cleared his throat but she just opened the door without asking who it was saying "Third floor."  
Shrugging his shoulders he went in and ran up the stairs taking two at a time. As he knew from her file that it was flat number 26.   
Scanning the doors he headed down the hallway until he finally stood in front of her door. He knocked twice and her footsteps came closer. His heart was racing and he was slightly sweating. Then the door opened and the smile on her face vanished as soon as she saw him standing there.  
"What are you doing here?"  
"Were expecting someone else?" He asked grinning at her appearance which went straight to his cock. It was obvious that she wasn't wearing anything beneath her robe.  
"The pizza guy," she whispered while tugging her robe closer together.  
"Well, then I have the wrong job apparently."   
"What are you doing her Tom?"  
"May I come in for a second?"  
"Why?" Some inner voice was screaming at her in panic, maybe she had been caught spying and he was here to kill her.  
"Well, you're not exactly decent I'd say. But you can also close the door, get dressed and come back."  
"Ahm?" What should she do? Footsteps were coming closer and she really didn't want her neighbours to see her like that, so she stepped aside and let him in. After she had closed the door behind her she turned around to face him. "So, what do you want?"  
"Well, first of all I wanted to thank you for being so kind today. I've actually brought you flowers."  
He held a beautiful bouquet of pink and white flowers out to her.  Smiling widely she took them "That really wasn't necessary. But thank you very much, they are beautiful. And you're welcome."  
He also smiled at her a bit shyly, she thought. Was he even blushing a bit?  
"Secondly, I wanted to... I... You... Fuck, how hard can it be?!"  
Curiously she stepped a bit closer to him reaching for his hand which was slightly shaking. Maybe he was just here to talk. After all she had offered to be there for him, hadn't she?  
"You can tell me anything."  
No, he couldn't. He had only told one girl before about his feelings and she had broken his heart. He had clued the thousands of pieces back together as good as he could but still it sometimes felt like some pieces were missing.  
Running his fingers through his hair he finally took a step closer to her, bent down and kissed her quite chaste.   
He pulled back a bit expecting her to slap him across the face but she didn't. She just stood there and stared at him. Licking his lips he leaned in again, kissing her a bit more tenderly this time. Again she didn't flinch or move away from him. After a moment she started to kiss back and they stood there with their eyes closed and their lips touching. Tom eventually started to lick along her bottom lip and she opened her mouth slightly inviting him to explore her mouth further. She reached up and ran her hands through his soft curls while he possessively grabbed the back of her head.   
With every second and every touch their arousal was growing. Suddenly Tom's hand moved from the back of her neck down to her shoulder slipping beneath the fabric of her robe. His raging hard-on was screaming for attention as did her dripping cunt. Finally Tom's hand slowly moved lower always being ready to stop but she didn't pull back or break their kiss, so finally his hand cupped her breast gently teasing her hard nipple.  
Their tongues were still dancing around each other when his other hand also went lower. He untied the cord holding her robe together and, in the end, brushed the fabric down her shoulders. With ease it fell down her outstretched arms and once she was bare, her hands made their way beneath his t-shirt.   
Moaning in approval she explored first his firm abs and pecs before going to his shoulders. He helped her to pull his t-shirt over his head after they had reluctantly broken their passionate kiss.  
Between short but loving kisses Tom whispered huskily "Bedroom?"  
Grinning she grabbed his hand and led him down the hall. Once in her bedroom they stood facing each other, their gazes wandering up and down each others bodies. Andrea's eyes finally settled on the still growing bulge in his jeans while Tom's was struggling whether to look at her firm tits or her pussy.  
Andrea wanted him, now! She didn't even think about the consequences, she only wanted him in her, making her feel good, making her scream in pleasure like he had with all those other girls.   
Determined she put her hands into the waistband of his jeans pulling him closer. Unbuttoning and unzipping his jeans she shoved them down over his hips. Pulling off his shoes and socks he stepped out of his jeans before kicking them away.   
His boxers were tenting and hardly left much tothe imagination. Boldly Andrea reached for his massive erection. Stroking over it he hissed and as she reached the tip she could already feel a wet spot on the fabric. He walked her back until she fell backwards onto her mattress. His mouth was all over her. First he kissed down her neck to her shoulders, to her chest, to her hard nipples. Sucking one into his eager mouth he pinched the other one lightly making her moan and squirm beneath him.   
It had been ages since the last time and she didn't remember it ever being this good and they had just started. Kissing further down her body he stuck his tongue out and ran it over her belly.  
Suddenly feeling self-conscious Andrea reached down and covered her mound. Tom pushed up onto his forearms and looked at her questioningly "Do you want me to stop?"  
"No. It's just... I've got a fucking rainforest down there. I didn't expect anything like this to happen."  
"Well, then: Save the rainforest!" He grabbed her wrists and put them to her sides before diving between her legs which immediately turned her giggles into a loud moan. His tongue started to run up and down her soaked slit and when his lips sucked at her clit slightly she exploded.   
"Fuuuuuuuck!"  
Grinning Tom watched her cum while he kept licking her folds. He was just about to push a finger into her when the doorbell startled them.  
"Shit. The pizza guy."  
"Let me deal with that." Tom jumped up and headed for the door.

Andrea listened to Tom talking to the pizza guy and couldn't wait for him to come back to her. Finally he stood in the door smiling at her.  
"You look absolutely stunning."  
Smiling back at him she licked her lips as she saw his erection standing proud. "You too. Although there's a thing on your body that is kind of disturbing."  
Raising an eyebrow he stepped closer to her. "Then why don't you take it off?"  
Grinning like a child on Christmas morning she sat up and reached for his boxers.   
In one swift move she brushed it down his body exposing his huge genitals to her. Her eyes widened in shock, he was fucking huge! Even her vibrator wasn't that big. There was no way this wouldn't hurt, she thought.  
"You okay?"  
"Ahm, yes. You're just...massive!"  
He bent down and kissed her forehead gently. "Don't worry, we'll go slow." With that he pushed her on her back again kissing down her body again.   
One of his hands was stroking through her hair while the other one explored her body. She didn't quite know what to do with hers, so she just put them on his shoulders feeling his muscles move. Then the hand exploring her body was gone. Curiously she looked down their bodies but she didn't quite see what he was doing, only felt it as the tip of his cock was brushing over her swollen folds. She threw her head back in pleasure closing her eyes.  
And finally his tip parted her lower lips.  
"Shit! Stop! We need a condom!"  
"You're not on the pill?"  
"Yes, I am."  
"So?"  
"Well, what if any of us has some disease?"  
"I don't. Been to a check up only two weeks ago."  
"But still."  
"Do you have condoms?"  
"No. You?"  
"Not with me." Disappointed he started to get up but before he could quite get away she wrapped her legs around his waist.  
"I think I'll take the risk then if you do as well."  
"Sure." His face came to hers again and they kissed tenderly before resuming with what they were doing.  
Tom positioned himself at her entrance and really slowly pushed in giving her time to adjust to his size. She felt utterly stretched but against her fears it felt good. No, amazing, especially when he finally moved.   
At first his thrusts were gentle and loving but at some point this wasn't enough for her any more. "Harder, Tom. Please."  
He was only too happy to oblige and started thrusting harder. Her legs were tangled on his thighs as he kept pumping into her. But suddenly Andrea tensed up and blushed bright red.  
"What is it, darling?"  
"That's so embarrassing."  
Confused Tom raised his brow "What is?"  
"Those sounds."  
Smiling he pulled out a bit before going back in which was accompanied by a wet sound. "Do you mean this?"  
"Yes." She put her arm over her eyes in order to hide.  
"That's not embarrassing. That's hot. You're soaking wet for me, darling. I love it!" To accentuate his point he thrust again slowly into her. "It only means you're a passionate woman. And now stop hiding. We're not done here!"   
With that he grabbed her wrists and pinned them next to her head while continuing to fuck her and soon they both were panting and moaning.  
As Andrea got closer and closer her moans grew louder and louder and finally she came screaming his name on the top of her lungs. Her contracting walls also triggered his orgasm and he came hard shooting his seed into her core.  
Their limp bodies lay pressed together, Tom still on top his softening cock still embraced by her warm tunnel. Again he gently kissed her, starting at her shoulder then up to her neck and finally her red lips. Out of impulse he asked between two tender kisses "What will your cop colleagues say about this?"


	11. Getting to know you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tom's and Andrea's relationship gets more intense. Or is it over before it even starts?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so some of this was inspired by The Night Manager, apparently.

"What?" Her eyes widened in shock as she pushed Tom off and out of her. "You know!"  
"I had a suspicion." He moved off her giving her some space.  
Realisation hit her like a hammer, so she quickly grabbed her blanket to cover herself. Tom, however, didn't quite understand what was going on. Hadn't she enjoyed it?  
"Why are you here? Do you want to blackmail me? Fucking bastard!"  
Tom's brows were knitted together, he still didn't know what had gotten into her. "No. I thought you wanted this too. At least you didn't stop me."  
"God! How could I have been so stupid! Get out!"  
"What? But I thought you liked me as well?!" Dumbfounded he stared at her.  
"You fucking..." Her eyes widened. Had he just said that he liked her? "Like you as well?"  
"Yes. I thought that was clear. I mean why do you think I wanted to sleep with you?"  
"Well, to have another trophy on your wall and to blackmail me for information."  
"Really? That's what you think of me?" He was deeply hurt and started to turn and get up.  
"Tom?! I... Of course I like you as well. Otherwise I surely wouldn't have slept with you. But if you know that I'm a cop spying on you..."  
"Haven't found much, have you?"  
"No." She grinned at him.  
"Andrea, I don't know but it felt like there's a tension between us. And then today when you...you held me... I just wanted to kiss you, to make you mine. I'm sorry if I was wrong. If you want to, we can pretend this never happened in the first place." He picked up his boxers and wanted to get dressed but suddenly Andrea ripped them from his hands.  
"I don't want you to go. I actually think you're right. It's been there from the beginning. I can't explain what exactly but it's been there." She grabbed his hand and tugged it closer to her letting go off the blanket. Tom looked at her eyeing her exposed tits again.  
"Really?" He sat back onto the bed. Swallowing hard he reached out for her face and ran his fingers over her cheek before leaning in and kissing her passionately.  
Suddenly she broke the kiss and looked in shock at him. "Shit! Did you come here by car?"  
"Sure."  
"Damn! Please tell me you haven't parked it directly in front of the building!"  
"No. Why?"  
"The CCTV cameras." Questioningly he looked at her. "We've been tracking you with those after you got Gatiss on us."  
"Seriously?!" Well, good that he generally tried to avoid streets with CCTV coverage.  
"Yes." She quickly stood up and headed for her living room where her phone was, Tom followed her feeling slightly unsure. Checking her screen she sighed in relief. There was no message or anything, so they surely hadn't seen him.  
"Everything good?"  
"Yes. Perfect. Are you hungry?"  
"Not really. But you are, aren't you?"  
"Starving."  
"Then go and eat that pizza. You'll need the energy." He grinned at her.  
"What's that supposed to mean?"  
"Well, I'm not nearly done with you, darling."  
Giggling she gently punched his upper arm. "Prick."  
They went into the kitchen where Tom had put the pizza into the oven to keep it warm.

Andrea ate while Tom watched her.  
"Do you want a beer or something?"  
"Sure." She stood up and got two bottles from her fridge. On her way back to her dining table she suddenly realised that her neighbours would have a good view of her naked body right now. So she quickly covered her tits with the beer. Chuckling Tom watched her.  
"Why are you so shy? You're fucking beautiful."  
"Well, I just don't want my neighbours to see me like that."  
"You never walk around naked?"  
"No."   
"Hmm? Maybe I should buy you some curtains then."  
"Tom!"  
"Ehehehe." She handed him a bottle looking sternly at him. "Well, my dear, I'm planning to keep you naked for a while."  
"And who says I'll play along?"  
"Oh, you will. I'm not done with you, yet. And now eat."  
"Yes, Sir!" She said teasingly but as he growled at that she knew there was more to that. Maybe her fantasy from the other night would come true after all.  
"So, who are you working for? The Yard?"  
"No."  
"Come on tell me, or do I have to get it out of you by force."  
"Maybe." She grinned at him. "But maybe I'll arrest you before you can do that."  
"Are you threatening me?"  
"Yes. Sir!" Her seductive tone went straight to his cock. He gulped down half the bottle of beer, put it down, then grabbed the second to last slice of pizza she was just eating out of her hand and threw it back into the box.  
Surprised she squealed loudly as he lifted her up from the chair throwing her over his shoulder and carried her to her bedroom. She slapped her fists onto his muscled back which in return earned her a hard spank onto her left arse cheek.  
When they arrived in her bedroom again he dropped her onto the bed towering over her.   
"So, what shall I do with a naughty little copper like you?"  
"I'm not a fucking cop!"   
"No? What then?"  
She stared at his hard-on and wiggled backwards onto her mattress in order to escape him but he was fast as a bullet and grabbed her ankle.  
"Where are you going, little miss?" With a wolfish grin he dragged her across the bed towards him before quickly sitting down and taking her over his knee. She squirmed and fought to get away from his firm grip but no chance. His arm had gripped her tightly and her flushed body was pressed against his thighs.   
Out of the blue a hard slap landed on her naked butt which echoed through her tiny bedroom. This finally stopped her struggling. Raising an eyebrow she looked over her shoulder at him. Insecure he smiled at her.  
"Everything okay? Wasn't too hard, was it?"  
"No, it wasn't." She felt his erection grow against her belly.  
Initially she wanted to ask him to let her go but then her dream came back to her which made her juices slowly seep out of her pussy. She had never done anything like that before but something in his gaze told her that he had. Starting to struggle against his grip again she hissed "If you won't let me go, I'll have to tell my colleagues!"  
Slap! This time it was even harder but the slight sting in her butt only stired the fire between her legs.  
After that Tom's hand was on her ass tenderly massaging the spot he had just marked with his big hand.   
He just sat and waited for her reaction but as she didn't yell at him to let her go or protest or anything it took a load of his mind.  
The sex with Salma had been great but he really missed this. And as it looked Andrea enjoyed herself. He loved the sting in his hand and how the outline of his and became visible on the girls butt, however, he'd never do it if it wasn't consensual.  
A moment later he landed the next blow on her other cheek this time, again taking his time to soothe her afterwards.  
"Spread your legs, my darling." His commanding voice sent a shiver down her spine as she opened her legs for him. "Very nice." His fingers started to explore her cunt, finally dipping into her wetness. "Have you done this before?"  
"No, Tom. You?"  
"Many times. Gosh, you're wet. So I guess it's okay? Or do you want me to stop?"  
Her nipples were hard and her breathing fast "No, Sir. Go on. I've been a bad girl, spying on you."  
Gasping "Fuck!" he thrust his hips upwards into her side while teasing her throbbing clit. "Who are you working for?" He suddenly remembered his earlier question.  
"I won't tell you."  
Slapping her five times fast and hard she started shivering.  
"Tell me!" He paused to give her a chance to answer.  
"Fuck you!" She hissed which made him swallow hard. Shit, she was a natural in how she played along. He kept spanking her over and over again stopping in between slaps to wait for an answer.   
By the time he had reached 40 her butt was deep red and he could here her snuffling when he demanded again "Tell me!"  
She couldn't take much more, so she finally gave in and said in a voice she hardly recognised "MI6. Sir. Please, stop."  
His hand was immediately stroking over her sore rear to soothe it.  
"Seriously? Why is the bloody MI6 after me?"  
"Because you're dangerous."  
"Am I?" He carefully lifted her up and placed her on her back in the middle of the bed.  
"Yes, you are. Making my ovaries explode nearly every day, never mind ruining my panties."  
A huge grin spread over his face. "I think agent Riseborough deserves a treat for her good behaviour." With that he delved down on her sucking at her hard nipples before going lower. He buried his face between her thighs and lapped up her juices before thrusting his tongue into her while his thumb worked her sensible clit.  
It didn't take long until Andrea felt a wave of pleasure wash over her. Damn, he really knew what he was doing.  
Coming down from her high she suddenly realised his head was gone between her legs and as she opened her eyes again to check where he had gone his lips pressed onto hers and claimed her for another passionate kiss. Pulling her in for a long and soggy french kiss he ran his hands down the sides of her body.  
His lips tasted different then earlier and it took her a moment to realise why. He tasted of her own juices! No guy before him had given her a blow job and until a couple of minutes ago she never understood why her female friends had always made such a fuss about it.   
They still kissed as Tom aligned his hard cock with her entrance and thrust into her quite roughly which almost sent her over right again.  
"Tooooooom!"  
He grabbed her legs behind her knees and pushed her legs closer to her body while he kept pumping into her furiously. His thrusts had become punishingly hard when she felt another climax approaching as his thick, long cock reached places in her, nobody had before. Only moments later she came again screaming his name.  
He pounded into her a couple of more times until he finally reached his own orgasm. His twitching cock shot his load into her which triggered another orgasm for her.  
They slumped together totally exhausted, him on top with his softening dick still fully buried in her womanhood.  
"Wow, Tom. That was great!"  
He gently kissed her neck before going to her jaw and finally their lips met again.  
"Was it?"  
"Yes."  
"You're not sore?"  
"No, it's okay. But you're kind of smashing me right now."  
"Sorry." He rolled off her immediately missing the intimate contact. Lying down on his side he wrapped an arm around her waist and cuddled close to her.  
"So tell me about you. The real you. You're not an orphan, are you?"  
Her heart could have melted at the view before her. In the evening sunlight coming through her window he looked like an angel.

"No. My parents live near Newcastle where I grew up. But you know, apart from my biographie it was all true."  
"So you really like rock music and action movies?" He teased her.  
"Yes, and what about you?"  
"Well, I don't think I've ever lied to you about me. Business aside."  
"What about your family?" He clenched his jaw and his facial expression changed which immediately made her regret the question. "You don't have to talk about it. I'm sorry. I should have known that's a soft spot for you."  
She rolled over to face him and cupping his face she passionately kissed him.

For a while they just lay there without saying anything just looking each other in the eyes until finally Andrea broke the silence.  
"Lets play a game. We ask each other questions, one by one, and we have to answer. I'll start. What's your favorite colour?"  
Grinning he raised an eyebrow. "Blue. Yours?"  
"Red, I guess. Favorite food?"  
"A good burger but not that McDonalds shit. Your favorite flowers?"  
Smiling all over her face she shrugged "Don't have some really. But the ones you bought are quite nice. Oh, thank you by the way. Favorite drink?"  
"Whiskey. Favorite position?"  
"What?" She had no idea what he was on about "I don't do yoga or...."  
"Ehehehe. Playing the innocent, little minx here. Let me rephrase it: favorite sex position?"  
"Oh," she blushed from head to toe "I don't qu..." Suddenly her phone went off and startled them.   
"Let it ring. At least until I've got my answer."  
Giggling she reached for her mobile and froze as she saw the name.  
"Your colleague?" Tom had propped up onto his elbow and was looking at her concerned.  
"Yes. Be quiet please. - Hey, James. What's up?"  
"Hi, Andy. Are you alright? You sound a bit, well, I don't know."  
"Everything fine. Got something new?" The hand holding her phone started shaking lightly.  
"Yeah. Nothing good though. That account on the invoice, you know the one on the Caymans, it has vanished. Like it never exsisted."  
She drew in a relieved breath. Thank God. Or better, thank Tom. At least she thought that was the reason. "No. How's that possible?" She faked annoyance which made Tom grin.  
"Well, either that invoice was fake or more likely they changed it since the issuing date of that invoice. But we're on it."  
"Good. Any..." Tom's fingers had made there way down between her legs and were teasing her clit. Slapping his hand she looked at him strictly which only made him grin from ear to ear. "Anything...else." She just could stifle a gasp coming out in-between words.  
"No. Are you really okay?"  
"Yes, James."  
"Where are you?"  
"At home."  
"Maybe I should come round. You really sound a bit weird."  
"I..." Again she slapped Tom's hand that was still working on her pussy. "I'm actually in bed already. Got a bit of a headache." Tom raised a brow at that before thrusting two of his long fingers into her.   
"Fuck!"  
"Andrea, what's going on? I'll come over. I could be at yours in about 20 minutes."  
"No, no. Just a sudden rush of pain. I'll go to sleep now. Don't worry. Stay with your wife and kid."  
"Okay. But if you need something just call me. Oh, are you coming to the shooting range on Saturday?"  
"Thanks, James. And yes, definitely. See you then, okay. Bye."  
"Bye."  
She hung up and wanted to put her phone down but dropped it on the floor as Tom brushed over her g-spot.  
"Fucking prick! You nearly gave everything away."  
"What? You could have just masturbated!"  
"Yeah, with my colleague on the... Aaaaaaaah! ...Phone."  
"Good?"  
"Fuck you! Ooh! Right there!" She could feel herself close to the edge but from one moment to the next his fingers were gone leaving her unsatisfied.   
Licking his drenched fingers he looked at her "I'm still waiting for your answer."  
"What?!" She stared angrily at him.  
"I just want to know how you like to be fucked, my darling."  
Again she blushed while lightly shaking her head. "I don't have a favorite position but what you just did felt amazing."  
"Hmm? Well, I guess then we'll have to find it together." Suggestingly he winked at her but now it was her time to pull back although she really wanted to go again.  
"Okay. But first I'm on with the next question. That invoice on your desk today, did you change the bank account?"  
"So you have seen that! Yes and no."  
"What sort of an answer is that?!"  
"Well you had your question. My turn again. Have you touched yourself thinking about me?"  
"Tom!"  
"Yes, that's me."  
Rolling her eyes she brought up her arm and put it over her eyes before whispering "Yes." His mouth suddenly was on her tits and started sucking at her nipples.  
"Did you?"  
"I haven't masturbated in ages but yes, I thought about how your tits would bounce when I ram into you, how tight your pussy might be and how you would taste."  
"Fuck!" She could feel herself getting wetter with every word.   
"Do you want me to fuck you again?"  
"Oh, yes."  
He quickly rolled her on her side so they were spooning and a moment later she could feel his erection on her butt.  
"Pull your legs a bit up to your chest, darling."  
She did and only seconds later her tight tunnel was once more stretched by his thick shaft. First his thrusts were gentle but after a while he couldn't hold back any longer and fucked her furiously making her tits jump wildly with every impact.  
For Andrea it was amazing, she had never felt like that before. She found herself thinking that this could be her favorite position. The only downside was that she couldn't see his face.  
His hand dug into her hip firmly as he kept pounding into her but suddenly it moved, palming her mound his middlefinger spread her folds and rubbed her clit. From that moment it only took a few more thrusts and she exploded with him following shortly after.

His hips were firmly pressed to her back to keep his dick inside her while they were kissing passionately once again.  
"How was that, darling?" He gently cupped her breast rolling her nipple between his fingers.  
"Could be my favorite, I think."  
"Good." He looked at her lovingly and for a moment there were only the two of them but then a thought shot through her head or better a memory: him shouting "I fucking loved her!" Who was that? Should she just ask him? She struggled with herself and finally decided to ask carefully.  
"Tom?"  
"Yes, my darling."  
"Until today I wasn't convinced that our investigations against you made any sense. But when I saw del Toro's name on that invoice, I knew it wasn't useless. Is it just drug dealing or is it more?"  
"I won't answer that. Not that I didn't trust you but the less you know the better. I don't want you to get involved."  
"What happened to my predecessor? Did you kill her when you found out that she was a spy?"  
"No, I didn't." His voice had changed, it sounded more thoughtful and her suspicion was confirmed.  
"Did you love her?"  
"Why are we talking about this?"  
"That's a yes then. She broke your heart, didn't she?"  
"Andrea, could we not..."  
"Sorry. I'm just wondering what this is."  
"What do you mean?"  
"Am I just another of your girls you occasionally fuck?"  
"No, I thought I made that clear."  
"You said you like me."  
"Yes, I do. Is that a problem?"  
"No. But could you possibly stop sleeping with anybody else? I mean I know we've just started whatever this is but..."  
"It's okay. I understand that and I'll only drop my pants for you from now on. Okay?"  
"Yes, Tom."  
Cuddling and kissing they just lay there while watching the sun set. They were both exhausted and tired but somehow neither of them wanted to sleep yet.  
"Tom?"  
"Andrea?"   
"Have you ever killed someone?"  
"Have you?"  
"Yes. Once. We were shot at."  
"We?"  
"It was during my training. James taught me everything. One day we had to fly to Bagdad. Intelligence said an international terrorist was hiding near-by and we went there. Only the two of us. More people would have been obstrusive. We went in and they started shooting. James took out three and I one. He had sneaked upon us, I saw him in the corner of my eye, spun around and fired. I shot him in the head. It was the man we were after."  
"Are you okay?"  
"Yes, he deserved it. - You didn't answer my question, though."  
"Would the answer change anything between us?"  
"No."  
"Then why do you want to know?"  
"Because I want to get to know you."  
"Well, the answer is yes. But not because I like it. Quite the opposite."  
"Do you have a gun?"  
"Yes, officer."  
"Which one?"  
"Actually I have three. Berettas, different calibers though. You, miss?"  
"I've got a Glock. Haven't fired it in ages. But Saturday we're going shooting. I'm actually a total geek for weapons."  
"Who is we?"  
"Well, some colleagues and me."  
"The whole day or can we meet afterwards?"  
"We usually spend the day together, going out afterwards."  
"So my darling likes shooting. What else do you like?"  
"Oh, I love riding my motorbike."  
"Really? Which one do you have?"  
"It's an old Triumph. Nothing special."  
"Why don't you ride it to the office?"  
"Riding a bike in a skirt? Seriously?"  
"Well, you could get changed."  
"Maybe I will. What about you?"  
"I guess I'm more into four wheels."  
"So I hear. It's a wonder you still got your license."  
"Who said I had one?" She looked at him raising both brows. "Ehehehe. Just kidding. It's more about knowing the right people."  
"Coruption? I'm shocked Mr. Hiddleston."  
"Come here." He rolled her to her back and they kissed again passionately.  
After taking a shower together they lay on her bed again watching a movie before they finally fell asleep with Tom holding her in his long arms.

Andrea woke the first time in weeks without having had any awkward dreams. Inhaling deeply she glanced at the alarm clock on her bedside table. 6.55. So it would go off in five minutes anyway.  
She rolled around to see if Tom was still sleeping but the bed was empty and cold. There was no sign that he had ever been there. Had she dreamt after all?  
To her relief she heard him talking from somewhere in her flat, probably the kitchen as it sounded. Happily grinning she jumped out of bed heading to the door. He must have closed it as she never did. When she stepped into the hallway she could clearly hear him in the kitchen.  
"No, I have not. - Tonight? Well, I've got plans already. Maybe around four? - Perfect..."  
He had plans, silently she hoped that his plans involved her as well, naked, with his cock inside her.   
As she passed the bathroom she suddenly had an intuition. Quietly closing the door behind her she grabbed her razor and started trimming her pubic hair.  
He had said he didn't bother and he hadn't. Giggling she thought about his remark "safe the rainforest" and what he had done after that which immediately made her walls contract. It was okay with hair, sure, but she just felt sexier when her mound was bare or nearly bare and she hoped he would appreciate her efforts.   
As the job was done she looked at herself in the mirror before applying some lotion to smooth the skin. Perfect.   
On tiptoes she headed down the hallway to her kitchen, a delicious smell coming from it. When she walked into the door he was standing next to her little dining table reaching for his ringing mobile in nothing but his shorts.

He hadn't seen her yet and rolled his eyes as he looked onto the screen of his phone but then his eyes caught sight of her and he immediately put the phone back down admiring her.  
"Good morning, my darling. Did you sleep well?"  
"Oh, yes. Very well. You?"  
"With a sexy woman in my arm, always." He stroled over to her and claimed her mouth for a wet kiss. "But what is this?" His fingers wandered over her bare mound before disappearing between her folds.  
"Aaaah! Tom!"  
"No. That's me. But let me guess: it's your dripping, tight cunt." One of his fingers entered her which drew another loud moan from her. "You didn't have to cut down the whole rainforest. What would Greenpeace say?"  
Chuckling she playfully slapped his arm. "I didn't have to but I wanted to. And would I have known you'd come around I would have done it before that. Don't you like it?"  
"Oh, I love it. Makes me wonder how the skin down there would feel against my tongue. But for now be a good girl and bend over that table. Grab the edge and hold on."  
Raising a brow she stared at him "And what about breakfast?" She had seen he had made omelet, bacon and even pancakes.  
"That'll have to wait. Now do what I say or I'll have to spank you again."  
A hand automatically went back to her ass but to her surprise it wasn't nearly as sore as she feared it would be. She actually had enjoyed the spanking quite a lot but right now she wanted something else: his thick cock in her pussy, so she walked over to the table and bent over grabbing the far edge. In this position she waited.  
Over her shoulder she saw him turning off the stove and putting the pans aside before he turned towards her, then he disappeared behind her and seconds later he thrust into her, rough.  
"AAAAAH! FUCK!" She screamed on the top of her lungs as she came right away.  
Tom held still inside her waiting till her walls stopped contracting before he moved again.  
"That was fast, my darling."  
"Yes. Sorry about that."  
"Oh, don't be. That just made you so much wetter for me."  
Do demonstrate what he meant he pulled out till only his tip remaind in her before thrusting back in accompanied by a slurping wet sound which made Andrea want to sink into the ground out of shame. Hiding her face in her armpit she felt herself getting closer again. How did he do that?  
"Don't you dare to be ashamed. It only shows me how much you want me and how much I pleasure you."  
His thrusts grew harder and faster, every time he pulled out nearly all the way before ramming back into her, his heavy balls slapping against her clit and mound every time. Soon both of them where moaning, grunting and growling as the table started to move because of Tom's hard thrusts.  
Finally Andrea came screaming loudly and triggered his orgasm as well.

Recovering she noticed that her table had shifted almost two feet. Had it been this rough?  
Suddenly the doorbell rang startling them.  
"Fuck! What if that's James?!"  
"Should I hide in the bathroom?"  
"Let me..."   
There was a banging on her door and an angry voice shouting "Your not alone in this building, missy!"  
Relieved Andrea took in a deep breath "It's just my stupid neighbour. Old fart, always complaining that I'm too loud but he's the one who's got the telly on full volume in the middle of the night."  
Before she could move or say anything else Tom had pulled up his boxers again and headed for the door.  
Dumbfounded she stayed in the kitchen, after all she was still completely naked. Her eyes went to the window which reminded her that anyone looking over could see her or could have seen their little morning activity. She really needed curtains.

Tom, meanwhile, was at the door and opened it looking as angry as he could.  
"What?!" He barked at the old man standing in front of it.  
After the initial shock he snarled back "You and your dirty slut of a friend are making a hell of a noise. And that in the early morning!"  
Tom was furious and grabbed the man's throat tugging him into the hallway of Andrea's flat before closing the door. "Who did you just call a dirty slut?!" He tightened his grip choking him.  
"No... No-one. Sorry."  
"You better. And now listen you little piece of shit! We can be as loud as we want, that's none of your business. It's after 7 anyway. And if I ever hear you calling her names again, you'll regret it. Clear!"  
"Yes."  
"And now apologise!" Tom's eyes were like ice making him actually shiver.

"I'm really sorry."  
"What for?!"  
"For disturbing you and calling your friend a slut."  
"Good boy. And now piss off! Fucking prick!"  
After the door had closed Andrea stuck her head out into the hallway. Yes, this man could be dangerous and you wouldn't want to be on the wrong side. Luckily she wasn't.  
"You actually scared me a bit Tom."  
Grinning he bent down in the hallway picking up her robe. "Didn't mean to, darling. Sorry. Here wear that or we won't get to breakfast, nevermind to work." He threw her robe, that still laid on the ground where he had taken it off, at her

A few minutes later they were sitting at the table, over which he had fucked her only moments ago, and had breakfast together like every other couple would.  
"So how do we do this?"  
"What do you mean, darling?"  
"At the office. I mean, we can't let anybody know anything."  
"Of course not. We'll just be like always. And after work I'll come here and we spent some time together. Maybe we also can go out."  
"Too risky. Why can't I come to yours?"  
"Not yet. I'm very careful and although I don't believe you're faking it, I've been tricked by my...feelings before."  
"Feelings? Are you saying th..."  
"No. I can't. Probably never. I'm pretty fucked up in that respect."  
"Are you? How?"  
"That's not a discussion for breakfast. Some other time, okay?"  
"Sure. Sweety."  
"Sweety?! Seriously?!"  
"Why not, sweety?"  
"Because I'm not...sweet."  
"Oh, you are. Maybe not on the outside. But I think you're sort of a hard shell, soft core guy. Am I wrong?"  
"I don't know. Maybe."

When they had finished they cleaned up together putting everything into the dishwasher as his phone went off again.  
Andrea was just wiping the table "It's Damian."  
"Fucking shit! I totally forgot!" Grinning she handed him the phone. He took it from her placing a soft kiss on her cheek.  
"Sorry, man. I totally forgot about the meeting. - No. - Well, I'll be there in 15 minutes. - Okay. - Thank you."  
"Forgot a meeting?"  
"Yeah. We wanted to check out some potential new suppliers for the club and wanted to meat at the first one like ten minutes ago. Gotta run, sorry."  
He kissed her again and then headed out the kitchen looking for his scattered clothes. Two minutes later he was out the door shouting "See you later."  
A heartfelt smile on her face she got dressed herself, she couldn't wait to see him again although she knew she had to be very careful with what she said to him at the office.  
Taking the hated glasses she headed for the tube and half an hour later she was at the office. Evans opened the door for her telling her Tom and Damian would come a bit later. Well, nothing she hadn't known already.

They showed up at about 11 and seeing Tom got a huge smile onto her face.  
"Morning Andrea. Everything alright here? Any calls?"  
"No, Tom. Quite boring actually."  
"I'll be in my office if there's anything. Oh, would you be a darling and bring me a coffee?" He winked at her. "It's been a long night."  
Stifling a giggle she answered "Coming right up."  
"Thanks."

About one and a half hour later Tom came out of his office stepping towards her.  
"Are you up for some cooking? Chris bought some stuff for us."  
"Hmm, okay." She logged out of her computer and followed Tom to the little kitchen. "What are we cooking?"  
"I thought Thai-Curry with chicken and rice would be nice. You like it... hot..., don't you?"  
Fucking bastard! How could he make her soak her panties with only a few words? "Yes, I do." She looked at him accusingly which made him chuckle.

Standing next to each other they cut the chicken and different veggies.  
"So you take the tube to come here?"  
"Yes."  
"Well, if you want to use your car, I could get you a keycard for the underground car park. We've got free spaces down there."  
"Ahm, I don't have a car." What was he on about?  
"No? But you have a license?"  
Their talk about her riding her bike to work came suddenly back to her mind which made her smile. "Yes, and I have a bike."  
"A bike? I didn't picture you... riding... a bike." How on Earth could he make the simplest things sound so saucy?  
"Not in a skirt certainly."  
"No, that would be a bit distractive for the other drivers." His left hand made its way over her ass to her front slowly moving up her inner thigh. Shocked she glanced up at him her mouth open. Damn glasses!  
Soon his fingers slipped under the fabric of her panties while he stired the chicken in the pan with his other hand. Andrea swallowed hard before taking a step away from him.  
His hand dropped from her soaked crotch and with a huge grin he took a slice of pepper in his soaked fingers and brought it to his mouth licking them clean. It was almost too much for her and she almost came right there.  
"You could change here or wear pants to work."  
"I could."   
"Great, then I'll tell Chris to get you a keycard." 

 

*****

 

James came in late that day, his son had a cold and his wife needed to be at the office in the morning. But as soon as she was home he headed to their little office. On his way there he picked up some sandwiches and drinks for them.  
Finally he arrived there and let himself in.  
"Hi. What's up guys?" Michael and Nick were bent over the desk listening carefully. "What are you doing?"  
"Come here and tell us what you hear."  
Furrowing his brow he joined them and looked at them confused. Then Nick pressed play and there was a voice, his voice, but no matter how hard he tried he didn't understand a word.  
"Can't you turn it up a bit?"  
"It's already as loud as possible, if I make it any louder there's only a static noise."  
"Hang on." He opened his backpack and pulled out his headphones. Plugging them into the computer he gave Nick a sign to start again. It was really quiet but if you focused you could hear at least a bit...

  
_"Listen, I want to talk to Guillermo. Now! If you don't get him on the phone within a minute I'll pull back my money and get the police on you!"_  
 _A long pause followed only interrupted by a muffled word he didn't catch._  
 _"Are you fucking out of your mind? ... worst enemy and you ask me what's wrong! Fuck you! - ... bags are plastic parts and shit like that. In one was a chopped off finger. What the fuck?! - ... enough of that shit! - ... be in deep shit, amigo!_ " 

"Holy fuck! Can't we really get it any clearer?"  
"No. I already asked every specialist I know. The bug was too far away."  
Michael took the headphones from him and listen for himself, they had discussed what this was without being able to quite hear it but with the headphones it was quite clear. They were talking about a deal!  
"Fuck! Do you think we can nail him with that?"  
"It's probably not good enough to be recognised as evidence in front of a judge. But if we can find anything else."  
"But we've got the invoice and this! He's talking about bags and selling stuff, plus a chopped off finger. And it's also pretty clear who this Guillermo is."  
"I know but I wouldn't risk taking this to the court. What if we get someone who's on his payrole?"  
"We need some legal advice. I'll call director Steward."  
"Yeah. Good job Nick." Finally they got a few steps ahead, slow but steady. On the monitor showing the pics Andrea's glasses made he saw her cooking with him while they were talking. Andrea seemed to like him, a bit more with every day. That had to change! He just would talk to her on Saturday when they went shooting.

 

*****

 

Finally it was time to go home and Andrea couldn't wait for that, she just hoped that Tom's meeting would be over soon. She was sure she had seen the man, who had arrived about half an hour earlier, before but couldn't quite remember where.  
Getting her jacket and handbag she made her way to his door and knocked.  
"Come in."  
"I just wanted to say that I'll go home now. Have a great weekend."  
"You too. Bye."

She ran to the tube station as it was pouring down once again. Typical! By the time she reached the station, however, her jacket and blouse were soaked. Fantastic.  
To all her luck there had been a power failure on the tube and the trains were running late. Fuck!!!

Shivering she let herself into her flat closing the door behind her she quickly got out of the soaked fabric of her jacket and her high-heels. Next she pulled the glasses off and just as she did her phone rang. With shaking fingers she pulled it out of her handbag.  
"Hi, James."  
"Hi. It's Michael actually."  
"Oh, sorry."  
"Doesn't matter. Listen, we might have something but we're not sure if it's enough for a prosecution, yet. We're currently trying to find a lawyer or prosecutor we can trust. James wanted you to know that, so that you don't get frustrated with your job. You're doing a great job, by the way."  
"What do we have?" She shivered even more as she stepped over to her huge mirror. She suddenly felt faint. Her reflection looked horrible: pale and like a soaked poodle. Her white blouse was transparent from the rain making it obvious were her peaked nipples were.  
"The other night one of the bugs recorded a business talk between our friend and del Toro. Unfortunately you can't understand everything. However, as you've found that invoice it might still be enough."  
"Oh, great."  
The mug on her desk! Surely! Fuck!!!  
"You sound a bit, well, sad."  
Suddenly a warm hand wrapped around her and pressed her freezing body against a much warmer one. She almost screamed but soft lips stopped her. Her eyes grew wide. Tom! How had he gotten into her flat?!  
"I'm only cold." He smiled down at her as he started rubbing her arms with his. "You saw how it was pouring down, didn't you? And I didn't have an umbrella."  
"Right. Take a warm bath or something. We need you healthy and fit."  
"Yes, sure Micha..." Stifling a moan she gripped her phone harder as Tom had started to unbutton her blouse and place hot kisses to the newly exposed skin.  
"You okay?"  
"Yes, just stifled a sneeze. Sorry."  
"Okay. Warm yourself up. Have a good evening. I'll call you if I know anything else. Oh, did you hear anything of the talk with the Foreign Minister?”  
Now she knew who it had been in Tom's office. He looked a bit different, though. "No, not really-"  
"Okay. Never mind. Have a great evening and see you tomorrow.Bye."  
“Bye.”

Just when she hung up Tom had opened the last button on her blouse and tugged the wet fabric down her shoulders.  
"How did you get in here, Tom?"  
"I took your spare key from the hook this morning. Haven't you noticed?"  
"No. Why didn't you ask?!" She was slightly angry at him but then he unclasped her bra and ran his hot mouth over her cold tits.  
"I was in a hurry, my darling." His skilled fingers opened her skirt as well which immediately fell down and pooled at her feet.  
"How did you get here so fast? And had time to change?" He had changed from the jeans and t-shirt he wore all day to blue slacks and a white shirt.  
"Well, what took you so long, my darling?"  
He thrust his tongue into her mouth as he pressed her against the wall behind her. His fingers found their way into her soaked panties, only they had been soaked all day.  
"Cotton panties? Really?!"  
"They're comfortable." He sucked a nipple into his mouth palming her other breast.  
Leaning up again he grinned mischievously. "I hope you're not too fond of them."  
Before she could ask why, he ripped them off her before undoing his pants shoving them down over his hips. She gasped at the sight of his thick erection which was an angry red already. Kissing her fiercely he lifted her off the ground and onto his hard-on thrusting into her roughly. She hooked her feet between his thighs and wrapped her arms around his neck.  
Rotating his hips he kept pounding into her until they finally both came hard groaning loudly and screaming each others names.

His hips kept her up in the air as they came back down together. And as soon as her orgasm was washed away she started shivering again.  
"You're still cold, aren't you?"  
"Yes. Would you let me down?"  
"Sure." He slowly let her glide down the wall his cock slipping from its warm hiding place. "Do you have a bath tub, darling?"  
"I do. But it's rather small."  
"Oh, we'll deal with that. Come on."

About 10 minutes later they sat crimped into her tiny bathtub. Tom even had to crook his long legs to sit in it. First they wanted to sit with her back to his front which didn't properly work, so they sat face to face with Andrea's legs behind his back.  
"You look beautiful, darling."  
"You don't look too shabby yourself."  
"I hope you enjoyed our lunch."  
"You're a fucking prick, you know! I almost came!"  
"And? Where is the problem?"  
"I could just about stifle a moan. You almost blew everything!"  
"Oh! So there's not only a camera but also a microphone in that thing."  
"Obviously. Asshole." His brows shot up which made her giggle. "Come on, you're not supposed to know any of this."  
"But I do."  
"God, if ever anybody will find out, I'm fucked."  
"Well, you're also 'fucked' now, only in a more pleasurable way."  
"Asshole!"  
"When are you leaving tomorrow for your little date."  
"About nine."  
"And when will you be back?"  
"Don't know yet. Probably at night."  
"Damn! I really wanted to spent the weekend with, or shall I say IN you."  
"Tom!" He shrugged his shoulders looking innocently at her. Shaking her head she looked down and somehow wasn't surprised to see the tip of his hard-on lurk out from the water. Licking her lips she said "Why don't we get out of here? I'm warm enough again."

They helped each other drying themselves off and when she pretended to dry his feet she knelt down before him and before he could protest her mouth was on his throbbing cock.  
"You don't have to... Shit!... do that."  
She didn't stop just kept sucking him deeper swirling her tongue around the sensetive head. Bobbing up and down his length she finally gave up trying to take all of him into her mouth. So she wrapped her hands around his base and focused licking and sucking his tip. Soon she tasted the first spurts of precum which urged her on even more and the grunts and growls coming from him proofed that she was on the right way. It felt like he grew even harder in her mouth.  
As she sucked him deeper in again she dropped one hand to his heavy balls and squeezed lightly.  
"Fuck, darling. If you don't want my cum in your lovely mouth you'd better stop."  
Always the gentleman she thought and sucked even harder pressing her tongue against the underside of his huge velvety shaft. His fingers tangled into her hair pulling lightly and he started to carefully thrust in and out of her mouth.  
"Relax, my darling." She did and a moment later his tip went into her throat and with each thrust a bit more. Luckily he wasn't too rough but as she swallowed with his dick down her throat he came shooting his hot seed into her whilst shouting her name. He pulled out a bit and emptied the last bit onto her tongue.   
Looking up at him she tasted his semen on her tongue as his softened dick slipped from her mouth. It was bitter but not unpleasant. It tasted like...him.  
He helped her back onto her feet and kissed her exploring her mouth with his tongue.  
"Come on, lets get cozy."

Cuddling onto his chest as he pulled the duvet over their bodies she thought about whether to tell him about the new developements and somehow she felt like she had to.  
"Tom, I have to tell you something."  
"Sure."  
"On the phone earlier, that was a colleague. He said they got pieces of a conversation from you and del Toro. They are currently checking if that's enough for a prosecution."  
"A conversation?"  
"Yes, on the phone. And together with that invoice..."  
"Okay."  
"You're not angry?"  
"To be honest I've been waiting for the day they'll arrest me for a while."  
"What?"  
"I know the CIA are after Guillermo and if they get him, I'm sure my name appears on his documents as well."  
"But I don't want you to go to prison."  
"I won't."  
"What?"  
"I know too much. So if it's really going down that way I'm sure I'll have an accident or something. Shit! I shouldn't even tell you that. Forget what I just said."  
"Tom, you're scaring me."  
"Sorry. Lets not talk about business, okay?"  
"Tom, I..."  
"Please, darling. Did Chris get you the key card?"  
"Yes."

They lay there cuddling and talking till late night and finally they fell asleep. But Andrea couldn't quite sleep, his words had really scared her. She was happy with him although they had just started to get to know each other and she didn't want to loose that.  
Staring into the darkness she lay there wrapped in his arm. A light snore came from him, so at least he was sleeping. At some point she just couldn't be there any longer and silently got up making sure not to wake him. He grunted something when she was no longer next to him but didn't wake.  
On her tiptoes she walked over to her living room and sat down on the sofa. Why couldn't she have fallen for a normal guy? That would make everything so much easier. Maybe she should tell her colleagues about the affair but to what point?  
She was in love with a criminal! Great!  
To distract herself she grabbed a book and started reading maybe she could fall asleep after reading a bit.  
But after having read about 20 ages she still wasn't even close to fall asleep. Turning pages a yelp startled her. What on Earth was that?  
Another one. Furrowing her brows she got up to look what it was. She stood in the hallway carefully listening where it came from. There it was again and she was sure now that it came from her bedroom. Tom!  
Running to the door she tore it open and switched the light on. Tom was tossing and turning whispering "No, please. Stop. No." over and over again. She quickly got to his side holding him. His body was covered in sweat and tears were running down his face. What the hell?!  
"Tom! Tom! Wake up, you're having a nightmare."  
"NOOOO!"   
"Shhhhh. You're save Tom. I'm right here." She wrapped his squirming frame in her arms pressing him firmly against her body. "Tom, wake up." She kissed his cheek in a sudden impulse and his eyes shot up.  
Panicking he first didn't realise were he was until Andrea stroked his cheek whispering "It's alright sweety, you just had a nightmare."

For a while everything was silent and she just held him. He had hoped the nightmares were gone, he hadn't had one in at least two weeks. But here? In front of her? He suddenly felt ashamed.  
"Sorry I didn't want to scare you. Maybe I should just go."  
"No. Please don't. Everything alright." She tugged his head against her chest stroking through his sweat-soaken hair. "Do you want to talk about your dream? It always helped me when I was little. My mum used to hold me and I'd tell her."  
He shook his head. "No. But I really should go." He tried to get up but she gripped him firmer and wouldn't let him go.  
It took a while but at some point he relaxed against her and his breathing went back to normal. Andrea kept stroking his head until she finally heard the familiar snore from him. She stayed still for a bit longer and when she was sure he was fast asleep she rolled him to his side spooning with him and eventually fell asleep herself.

In the morning she woke by her alarm clock as usually just a bit later than during the week. Stretching she turned to greet her boyfriend but just like the day before he was gone. With a smile on her face she stood up thinking she would find him in the kitchen again. But just as she was about to leave her bedroom her eyes fell to a little note on what had been his pillow.   
Furrowing her brows she picked it up. It simply said:   
“Had to go. Sorry. Have a nice day. T.”  
She looked at it disbelievingly, reading it again and again. Had he dumped her? Should she call him? Fuck, she didn't even have his number. At least not his private one.  
No, why would he do that? But he hadn't said he had to go early either. Not sure about what had happened she thought about calling the office.  
Right then her phone rang. Surely him! But instead it was just James asking her to go out for breakfast together. She quickly said yes, hoping it would bring her to other thoughts.

 

*****

 

Tom had waited until she was sleeping and after he was sure she was sleeping soundly he waited another 30 minutes.  
He couldn't believe that she had seen him like that. So weak, so...damaged. She surely was just being nice not asking him to leave right away. How could she still find him attractive? No, the whole thing had been a mistake. He shouldn't have started it in the first place.  
Looking a last time at her in the semi-dark of her room he smiled as he watched her sleeping peacefully. He got dressed and fixed his hair a bit before scribbling a short note to give her the easy way out.  
He would have to fire her, otherwise he still had to see her every single day and that wasn't an option. Leaning down he gently kissed her forehead before he finally left hanging her spare key back to its former place.  
He walked to his car where he sat for about another 30 minutes thinking whether he had made the right decision. The sun would come up soon and he was tired. Yes, he liked her. A lot. But once more his haunted past had ruined everything. Closing his eyes he thought about her face when he had woken. It had been full of shock and something else. First he thought it was pity but the more he thought about it the surer he became that it was disgust. It must have been!  
In the end he hit the ignition button and sped home making sure to avoid streets covered with CCTV. 

Once home he took the elevator up to his apartment where he drank half a bottle of whiskey before going to bed. Salma was sleeping on what had become her side of the bed and he got in next to her after getting naked. He rolled to his side curling up into a ball and finally found some peace.

 

*****

 

Friday night he always went out on his own. Director Steward got ready putting on one of his best suits. His wife believed he was going to a country club for men only but he wasn't. At least not anymore.   
There were certain things he could ask his wife to do for him so he had to get it somewhere else. He had thought about going to another place after the most recent outcome of their investigation but the truth was the brothel was discreet and he loved the girls there. He was sure they weren't forced to do their job as it was in other places.  
When he saw the picture of the building in Fassbender's infos his heart had nearly stopped. Had they seen him there as well? Apparently not. Thank God.  
He was pretty sure Hiddleston was a customer of the brothel as well because he surely didn't live in the building. He would clear that up tonight and if he was he had to make sure his people wouldn't investigate further.  
Parking the car in the underground parking lot he took the lift up looking at the photograph of Hiddleston in his pocket. Tonight one of his favorite girls would be taking care of him - Alica - which was really good luck for him because she was usually booked.  
He got out and headed for the reception desk. Julie, the owner, was there herself today.  
"Good evening, professor."  
"Miss Walters." He glanced around himself to make sure that nobody was there before he pulled out the picture of their suspect showing it to her. "Do you know this man?"  
"You know that if I did I couldn't tell you."  
"So he's a customer here as well?"  
"Like I said..."  
"Fine. Everything ready?" He was sure she knew him, so problem solved. Well, not quite.  
"Sure. You can go right through. You know where."  
"Thank you."

 

*****

 

Michael had been ringing on every single doorbell in the whole fucking building but no-one knew Hiddleston or had ever seen him allegedly. He was just getting onto his bike pulling his helmet on when he saw something really interesting: Director Steward was just stiring his car into the underground car park.  
So Andrea and Anne-Marie had been right. He knew something. They only had to find out what!


	12. What can you tell me?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Does James know what is going on between Andrea and Tom?

Tom woke late, the sun was up high already as he lifted his head from his pillow. Blinking his eyes he saw Salma was out on the terrace sunbathing naked, again. He stretched and stood up walking out to her.  
"Buenos dias hermoso."  
"Hey." As the sunlight hit his eyes he quickly closed again them looking in the shadows.   
It was a pleasantly warm day and he sat down next to her.  
"Why are you here, big boy? Did your little cop-slut throw you out?"  
"Please don't call her that. And no. I left."  
"In the middle of the night?" Raising an eyebrow he looked at her. "Oh, come on. You weren't there when I went to bed at 1 and when I had to pee at 6 you lay in bed next to me."  
"Yes, right. I had a nightmare at hers."  
"And? She kicked you out because of that?! Bitch."  
"Please! No, she didn't. She was too polite to do that."  
Knitting her brows together she looked at him confused "What are you talking about, Tom?"  
"I was fucking crying like a baby. I mean she looked at me totally disgusted. And how could she not?!"  
"What? I don't believe that."  
"She did. I mean, who finds a guy attractive that cries like a fucking baby when he has a nightmare."  
"I do. Did she say she wanted you to leave?"  
"No. She hugged me and comforted me but..."  
"Oh, Tom. Because the b... girl likes you."  
"I don't know. She's a damn MI6 agent. She's tough."  
"MI6? Really?!"  
"Yes. Fuck. Why the hell can't I just be like everyone else?!"  
"Because you're special. Call her. Tell her you had a meeting or something."  
"I left a note."  
"Saying what?"  
"That I had to go."  
"Good. But please, Tom, call her. She makes you happy. And you deserve to be happy."  
"I'm not sure about that."  
"Bullshit. And now do me a favour and do my back. Actually you could do my whole body."  
Grinning he took the bottle of sunscreen and rubbed it on her back.  
"I promised her not to sleep with anyone else, so I guess you have to do the rest yourself."  
"¡Mierda!"

After they had lunch together Salma left and all his doubts came rushing back to him. She possibly couldn’t still like, never mind love, him. No way! The best was he'd just give her a letter on Monday saying she was laid off and that would be it. She had an actual job anyway.  
Thinking about it he actually got angry. He paid her so that she could spy on him. And he also paid his taxes and financed the bastards behind everything!

To distract himself he went for a long run and afterwards went to the gym on the third floor of the building for another hour. Finally he was totally exhausted and headed back to his apartment.  
Sitting in his Jacuzzi he thought about what to do. Maybe he should call her anyway and ask how her day was but he also didn't want to be the guy who was totally focused on her. Oh, how he'd love her to be there with him! They could sit in the tub, drink champagne, and enjoy the view and later the sunset.   
No. She didn't want him anymore. Surely not. She probably was just too afraid to tell him off.  
He ate the remains from lunch for dinner and after that watched a movie. After three beers and some whiskey he went to bed trying to forget her.

 

*****

 

Andrea jumped on her bike before storing her gun in her backpack and headed for the restaurant where she would meet with James.  
She had hoped Tom would be there in the morning to spend some time with her but as he had gone...   
Maybe it was good to meet with James and just talk, that would probably clear her head a bit more. She only wished she could talk with him about her new relationship.  
On her way to their meeting point her thoughts went back to the previous night. Had it really been a nightmare or something totally different? Remembering a seminar about physical and emotional trauma she was more and more sure that this had been the case. But could that really be? He was so tough! But as she had noticed before this could also be just a facade. Suddenly she wished she had asked him for his number, so she could call him.   
They had just slept together a couple of times and hadn't known each other for long either but she felt for him like for no-one before.

Soon she arrived at the little restaurant near the shooting range and parked her bike next to James'. They had done this nearly every Saturday during the time he trained her and had become close friends. They knew almost everything about one another.  
Somehow reluctantly she entered the restaurant looking for James. As usually he sat at the table in the corner of the room from where you could easily observe what was going on in the whole room. Typical trade disease. On seeing her a huge smile spread over his face.  
"Good morning, Andy."  
"Morning, James." They hugged before sitting down.

They ordered their breakfast and waited in silence.  
"Andrea, I have to ask you something. And please don't feel offended."  
"What? Why should I?"  
"How much do you like Hiddleston? I mean I know he's charming and all that but you know better than to... well, fall for his facade."  
Shit! Did he know something?! "I don't quite know what you’re talking about."  
"Well, you're laughing with him, you're having lunch with him every day and tell him stuff you told me only after years knowing each other."  
"He's nice and, as you already said, charming."  
"You didn't believe he's involved in any crimes until a few days ago, did you?"  
"No. I didn't. And you didn't either."  
"No. True. But please Andrea don't get involved with him. Please. I don't want you to get in trouble because of that posh prick!"  
"He's not..."  
"What? Posh?"  
"Well, he probably is but I think he's not as tough as he appears. That's probably just a protective shield."  
"What makes you think that?"  
Why couldn't he just leave it there?! "The day his mum visited he was so down. I don't know what's going on there but I'm sure he's deeply hurt."  
"Do you still have the card his mum gave you?"  
"No." She lied. "Why?"  
"I was thinking we could get some information from her."  
"They haven't seen each other for over ten years. So I don't think she has any useful info for us."  
"You're probably right."  
"Can we now maybe talk about something else? Not work."  
"Sure. Have you seen any good films lately?"

About an hour later they headed over to the shooting range where they met Michael and Nick. Nick hadn’t shot much before but didn't really need to as he was mainly working in IT.  
They made a competition, who got the most points, after they shot their guns warm. And soon Andrea was ahead of the three men. James came second before Michael and then Nick which wasn't a surprise.  
After two hours of constant shooting they sat down for a coffee break and Michael had to tell them about what he saw the previous night.  
"You know that I was investigating in that apartment building, right?" Silently they nodded. "Yesterday evening I was about to give up when I saw a familiar face drive into the underground car park. Guess who!"  
Well, it couldn't have been Tom, so who else? After a while they all just shrugged their shoulders.  
"Director Steward. So you and Anne-Marie have been right. He knows something. The question is only: what and how much?"  
"Hang on, you're not trying to tell us Patrick is involved with Hiddleston." James' eyes widened in shock.  
"No. I don't think so. You've got the closest contact to him, James. So why don't you go to his office on Monday and see what you can find out."

They shot for another hour before Gus, the guy who ran the place for the MI6, appeared and let them try new weapons. Andrea couldn't get enough and was wondering how good a shooter Tom was.   
She couldn't wait to get home and see him again. She was 100 percent sure he would be waiting for her at her flat again.   
First she had been angry at him for taking her spare key but he soon had made up for that. Thinking about this a shiver went down her spine.  
"Are you cold, Andy?"  
"A bit." She lied again. Never before she had lied at James and today it already was the second time.  
"Yeah. It's a bit chilli in here."

After they had fired some more rounds they finally left and headed for a pub. They ate, drank and talked for a while. Occasionally Andrea checked her phone. Maybe he had her number and would call or text her but so far there wasn't anything.   
She somehow was shocked at how well Michael and James got along. They made one dirty joke after the other and were constantly chuckling. Actually she was slightly jealous because so far she had always gotten along best with James but no longer apparently.

Finally they said good-bye and headed home. Andrea was surprised to see it was already 9.15 when she got off her bike. A wide smile spread on her face as she thought about the man who surely would be waiting in her flat for her and the things he would do to her.  
Running up the stairs she unlocked her door only to find the place in total darkness. She switched the light on and pulled off her boots. Her spare keys were hanging on its usual hook, so her grin broadened even more.  
"Tom? Where are you?" She headed down the hall and looked into every room but he was nowhere to be found.  
Furrowing her brows she searched again but he just wasn't there. Had the keys been in their place this morning already? Feeling gutted she fell down onto her sofa. So he had dumped her. Fuck! The tears started running automatically and there was no stopping them.   
Her face was swollen from crying as she finally had the power to get up. Taking a quick shower she felt depressed. What had she done to scare him away? Or was she bad in bed? Or...  
She went through every second they had spent together and after she still had no idea what had happened she started to cry again.  
When she was done in the bathroom she headed for her bed. It was already 11.35 when she cuddled into her sheets. But only moments after she had closed her eyes her phone went off. She literally shot up in her bed and grabbed her phone. A text message had arrived   
-Hope you had a great day.-  
And just when she was reading it another one arrived.  
-It's Tom, by the way. Hope to see you again soon.-  
She couldn't stifle the sort of maniac laugh that came out of her mouth. How could she have been so stupid? He probably just had been busy all day. Quickly typing a response she smiled again, forgotten her tears from earlier.

 

*****

 

Salma had visited some friends and they had gone out to the cinema. Afterwards she headed back to Tom's. She was kind of living there although he had found an own apartment for her. He probably would still be at Andrea's though. Lucky girl. Salma just hoped that she appreciated Tom. He was a kind soul and a fantastic lover as she had experienced herself a couple of times.  
She had never had any male friends before him but he had become her closest one in only a few weeks, he knew more about her than anyone else and vice versa.   
First she had been shocked about the stuff that had happened to him and especially about the fact that his parents didn't care. Her dad would have killed every single one of those pricks, so would her mum.  
When he had told her about Emily and what he had done after, she couldn't quite believe that he still was the man who stood before her. It was only normal that deep inside the tough outside he had a vulnerable soul. And she would protect him as good as she could. She loved him like a brother which was true for him as well. He had no family but her.   
They had actually talked about being together as a couple but soon agreed that two damaged people shouldn't have a family, however, they would stay friends no matter what.

She took the lift up to the top floor and unlocked the door with her fingerprint. It was an honour that she was the only person that had this privilege. As soon as she entered the apartment she knew he hadn't gone to see Andrea. First all his car keys were still there, second it smelt like food and if he had cooked for himself he wouldn't have gone out. Surely not. And she also knew for a fact that he hadn't brought Andrea here. With her it had taken him two weeks and a couple of tests until he invited her.  
She headed for the bedroom where he laid tossing and turning once more. She always felt so helpless when he was like that. How she wished she could help him. But the only thing you could do was lie down next to him and wrap his arm around you. Soothing him was faster when you put his head on your chest, she had soon found out. So she quickly undressed slipped into bed next to him and pressed his sweaty head against her tit. Almost immediately he calmed, his hand wrapping itself around her waist. Good.  
For a while she just lay there next to him before her gaze fell to his mobile which lay on the bedside table. Had he at least texted her? Or had he called her and she had really told him off?  
Her curiosity was peaked so she grabbed his phone quickly unlocking it. She had to smile at his background picture which showed the both of them on the terrace after they had fucked against the balustrade while the sun was setting. God, that had been so good! He had taken her from behind and with every thrust her tits slapped against the cold metal of top handle.  
Shaking her head lightly she focused on what she wanted to do, so she checked the outgoing calls but the last one was one to Chris this afternoon. There were also no messages. Checking if he had her number at all she checked the list and soon found it.  
Following an impulse she selected the number and typed a message. After she had sent it, she quickly typed another one as Andrea possibly had no idea whose number it was. Sitting there waiting she stroked her fingers through Tom's hair. As she knew him he expected the worst and was afraid of it, so he hadn't called her at all.  
A moment later there was a “bing” from the phone. A message had arrived.  
-Can't be soon enough for me. Why don't you come over now?-  
So she had been right, Andrea still wanted him, and why not?!  
"Tom?" She slightly shook him. "Wake up."  
He shook his head groaning and whispering "No. Don't want to."  
"Come on, tonto!"  
"What are you calling me?!" He blinked his eyes and shifted his head to look at her.  
"¡Tonto!"  
"Excuse me?!"  
"Well, you are one. Why didn't you call Andrea? Or just text her?"  
"Because I don't want to be some stupid guy chasing after a girl who doesn't want him anymore."  
"Well, but she does!" She handed him his phone and slapped his arm. "Now get up and get your sexy ass over there and fuck that girl until she can't remember her own name!"  
"What are you talking about?!"   
"Read the message."  
Only now he registered where his head was resting and quickly raised his head. "Sorry about that. And which message?"  
"Don't be and the one she's just sent."  
"She doesn't even have my number."  
"Well, now she has. I might have texted her in your name, cielo."  
"What? Why did you do that?"  
"Because you should have done it. And now read!"  
He finally unlocked his phone and read the message. She really wanted to see him again?! He was happy and sad at the same time because hadn't it been for Salma he would have broken up with her.  
Without saying anything he swung his legs out of the bed, he grabbed the first items of clothing he could find and headed for the door. However, before he reached it he spun around, hugged and kissed Salma. "Thank you. So much. I really should've listened to you."  
"De nada, cielo. And now go."  
He kissed her cheek again and left.

About 20 minutes later Tom pressed the doorbell of Andrea's flat after she had let him in downstairs. He had sprinted up the stairs as fast as he could and within a second she ripped the door open and threw her arms around him. They closed the door behind them and kissed passionately.  
When they broke the kiss Andrea giggled at Tom's appearance: wearing old sweats and a t-shirt. "Left in a bit of a hurry?"  
"Yes. Actually I was already in bed."  
"Me too."  
"I hope I didn't wake you?"  
"No. Come on." She grabbed his hand and tugged him along with her into her bedroom. Once there she pulled his shirt over his head and tugged down his pants. Grinning as she saw he was going commando she cupped and squeezed his balls.  
"You've really missed me, haven't you?"  
"Oh yes."  
Biting his lower lip he reached for the hem of her sleepshirt and pulled it up exposing her nakedness. Gently putting her into the middle of the bed he kissed her again before he moved lower to her breasts. By the time he sucked her nipples into his mouth she was already arching her back and moaning lightly. He lined up at her entrance and slowly thrust in. That night they didn't fuck, they made love, slowly and tenderly.  
By the time her orgasm neared she couldn't stifle some tears and Tom immediately stopped.   
"Am I hurting you?"  
"No, it feels so wonderful. Keep going, please."  
Kissing her tears away he kept his slow pace and finally they fell over the edge together. 

After her orgasm was fading Andrea burst into tears again. She was so happy.  
"What's wrong, my darling?"  
"I'm just so happy you are here, Tom. When I came home and you weren't here and hadn't called I thought you had broken up with me. But now we're here and everything is perfect."  
Looking away in guilt he hid his face in the crook of her neck. Furrowing her brows she ran her hands along his broad shoulders sensing she hadn't been all too wrong with her suspicion. "You thought about it, didn't you?"  
He raised his head and looked her in the eyes. "Yes. But not because I didn't want you anymore. Because I thought you didn't want me anymore after last night."  
"Why wouldn't I still want you? You're amazing."  
"Andrea, I was ashamed because you saw me crying like a baby and I thought you were disgusted by that."  
"Wasn't the first time I saw you crying. And there's nothing to be ashamed of. We all cry from time to time."  
"Well, we haven't been together that first time. And also I… I fear that something bad will happen. I mean that was always the case. As soon as I thought I could be happy something bad happened. It's like with a dog when you hold a sausage before him and just when he wants to get it, you pull it away. That's basically what my life is like and I don't want you to suffer because of me. Andrea, I'm damaged, I'm totally fucked up. I must have been Hitler in a former life to have deserved all that shit. Not that I believe in that shit. And I need to be sure you know what you're getting yourself into."  
"Damaged? How?" She looked him in the eyes which were now also filling with tears.  
"I... When I was... I had to go through some tough shit. I can't tell you the details. Not that I didn't want to, I just can't. I'm sorry."  
"That's okay. I'll be there for you if you can." She stroked her thumbs over his cheeks and connected their lips again. "Let’s sleep, sweety."  
"Yeah, I... Thank you." He rolled to her side and facing each other they tangled their limbs together. For a while they looked into each other’s eyes before finally closing them and falling asleep.

Sunday they slept till late morning and when Andrea finally opened her eyes Tom was watching her sleeping.  
"Good morning, my darling."  
"Morning, gorgeous." They kissed and as she moved a bit closer to him she could feel his erection poking at her upper thigh. "Some morning wood?"  
"I'm always hard for you. Friday I nearly took you from behind in the kitchen."  
"Instead you just fingered my pussy and wanted to show me up in front of my colleagues."  
"Sorry for that. But I just wanted you. You looked so sexy chopping food."  
"Please promise me you won't do it again. Not at the office anyway."  
"Okay. Sorry."  
"It's alright."  
"Fancy some riding?" Suggesting he raised an eyebrow but once more she didn't quite get the ambiguity of it.  
"Do you have a bike?"  
"Ehehehe. No." Grabbing her he pulled her along with him as he rolled onto his back. His hands gripped her hips and pushed her down a bit until he could feel her core at his cock.  
"Oh. Sorry, I should be used to that double entendre."  
"Why's that?"  
"James, my colleague and trainer has got quite a filthy sense of humour."  
Waiting he didn't say anything just looked at her and waited for her to move and she finally did. Sliding her hand down along his body she gripped his erection and leaned up a bit. Straddling him she slowly staked herself with his thick cock. "Aaah! That feels so good, Tom."  
He didn't move just watched as she sank down onto him taking him in inch by inch until he eventually could feel her cervix at the tip of his cock.   
Breathing heavily she held still as her tight tunnel adjusted to the intrusion. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her forward to claim her mouth.  
It took a while for her to get used to the new feeling of her being on top and taking him as deep as possible but in the end she started to rock her hips, first very slowly and carefully but as soon as she felt him against her most sensitive spots her hips moved faster and faster.  
Together they neared their high while his eyes were fixed on her bouncing tits. At some point he couldn't hold back and thrust up into her making her scream loudly.  
"Shit. Did I hurt you, darling?"  
Shaking her head wildly she kept jumping up and down his length whilst biting her bottom lip in pleasure. She was close, very close and she wanted to take him along with her.  
"Do...it...fuck...again! Harder!"  
Gripping her hips tightly he did. Thrust after thrust made her scream in bliss and finally she came, her walls firmly clenching around his shaft he soon came as well, shooting his seed into her.

Afterwards they lay on her bed as before, face to face, only that their crotches were closer together as Tom's leg was wrapped around her hip while his hand cupped her cheek.  
"That was great, darling. I really didn't hurt you?"  
"No, sweety. You just made me feel fantastic."  
"Good." Their lips met for a passionate kiss which they only broke after a bit over five minutes.   
Andrea stared into his eyes and wondered how a future with Tom would look like.  
"What changed your mind?"  
"Hmm?" Confused he stared at her.  
"Why did you text me when you wanted to break up with me?"  
Should he tell her the truth? How would she react? But he didn't want to lie to her. "Salma."  
"What?"  
"Salma said I should talk to you and actually the text you got was from her."  
Silently she looked at him, a strange feeling washing through her. First she couldn't quite pinpoint what it was but then she identified the yellow-eyed monster of jealousy. Never in her life had she felt like that before. "Salma?! Did you sleep with her?"  
"Not in the last couple of days. I swear. She's my best friend. She knows more about me than anyone else. But I promised you I wouldn't sleep with anybody else and I won't. Please, Andrea. I know I'm a fool but I want you. I need you."  
Tears were welling up in his eyes making them even bluer than usually. She loved this man and she would do nearly everything for him. Eventually a smile spread on her face and she leaned in and kissed him passionately.  
For a while they just lay there looking in each other’s eyes with a smile on their face and occasionally touching the other one.  
"So, how was the shooting?"  
"Quite good actually. Actually got to try some new guns."  
"Yes? Which ones?"  
Andrea started geeking about the new Walther automatic and the pump gun she shot the day before while Tom listened to her with a grin that grew wider and wider.

Most of their Sunday they spent in bed together talking and sleeping with each other. They only got up to make lunch and for dinner they ordered something. While Andrea was geeking about her weapons and motorbikes, Tom went on about books and plays he had seen - and loved saying "We've got to go see one together at some point."  
By the time they finally fell asleep spooning they both were exhausted and Andrea actually felt a bit sore but she loved it nevertheless. She couldn't wait to wake up next to him wrapped in his strong arms.


	13. Relationship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Andrea wants to know more about the man she loves and makes a mistake.

Monday morning Andrea woke first feeling Tom's still sleeping body spooning against hers. His left arm rested under her neck while his right one was firmly wrapped around her. Carefully she turned her head and looked at his sleeping face. She felt like she could burst in happiness as she marvelled at his beautiful face.  
In the light of the raising sun she could see the scars on his face quite clearly. She had noted them before but with his face at rest she could clearly see them.   
Turning back around she entwined the fingers of her right hand with the ones of his left which were slightly crooked.  
Then her eyes fell to his left wrist. There was a scar she hadn't noticed before, it went from his wrist down his forearm about 3 to 4 inches. It almost looked like... No, that was not possible. He wouldn't have... No.  
Pushing that thought aside she wanted to think about happier things but somehow her mind didn't want to set that thought aside.  
Finally Tom seemed to wake as he wiggled his hips against her back his cock growing hard. Just when she turned her head he opened his eyes and he smiled at her.  
"Good morning, my beautiful darling."  
"Morning."  
They kissed and as she pulled back a bit her eyes landed on the scar on his top lip.  
"Tom?"  
"Yes, darling."  
She ran her fingers over the short scar, then over the one on his forehead. "How did you get these?"  
His eyes seemed to darken. "My first girlfriend crossed her legs too fast."  
Furrowing her brows she looked at him in shock then a childish grin spread on his face "Ehehehe. You should see your face, darling."  
Giggling she playfully punched his chest "Prick! Now, seriously."  
"From a fight." He pointed to his top lip "and an accident." This time he pointed to his forehead.   
"And the one on your wrist?"  
His eyes widened. Was that panic?  
"Also an accident." He said briefly and tugged his arm from under her in order to get up.  
For a moment she thought about grabbing his arm and tugging him back to her but she decided to let him go.  
He went to the bathroom and soon she heard the water running in the shower. Hesitating for a moment she finally decided to follow him. 

He stood facing the wall as she sneaked in behind him but apparently he had heard her already as he slowly turned towards her.  
"You don't mind if I get in here as well, do you?" Licking her bottom lip she stared down at his semi-hard dick.  
"Not at all. Come here." He gripped her at the waist and pressed her back against the tiled wall spreading her legs with his. "Now be a good girl and lift one of your legs up and wrap it around me."  
She did as he had asked and a moment later he lifted her off the ground and slowly slid his now fully hard cock inside her. First she thought he'd take her hard and fast but he did quite the opposite making passionately love to her.

After they had showered they got dressed and made breakfast together. Kissing her at the door he whispered "Is it okay if I come around tonight again?"  
"Of course it is." Out of impulse she reached for her spare keys and handed them to him. "Please take them again."  
"Really?"  
"Yes. And now go. You can't show up at the office like that." She gestured to his old sweats.  
"Well, I could. But I won't. Are you going on your bike today?"  
"Yes. I think I will."  
"Good. See you." He leaned in again and claimed her mouth again.  
"See you, sweety."  
Winking at her he left and she leaned against the closed door swooning.

A few minutes later she was about to leave as well and as she retrieved her leather gloves from a drawer her eyes fell onto a business card. Patricia Hiddleston was written in silver letters on it.  
She didn't know what had happened between them but her family was very important to her and somehow she hoped she could bring them back together. With shaking fingers she dialled the number and waited for an answer. She almost wanted to hang up again when there finally was an answer.  
"Hello?"  
"Mrs. Hiddleston?"  
"Yes. Who's there?"  
"Hi. My name is Andrea. I'm not sure if you remember me. I work for your son."  
"Oh, yes. The dark-haired girl. How is he?"  
"Good. I wanted to ask you, if you would meet me for a coffee or something."  
"You? Has Tom told you to do that?"  
"No. He actually has no idea I'm calling you."  
"What? But what do you want from me then?"  
"Tom is really important to me and I was hoping I could conciliate between you. I think family is really important and he has no-one. So I thought I could try and fix this."  
"I don't know... Okay. I would try anything to make up for everything. When would it suit you?"  
"Any day would be fine. Around lunch time?"  
"Okay. I've got plans for today and tomorrow, so maybe Wednesday?"  
"Fine."  
"Where should we meet?"  
Andrea gave her the address of one of her favourite cafés which was only three stops on the tube from the office and headed to work.

She was really nervous about Wednesday and Tom sensed that there was something going on but she could convince him that it had to do with their investigation and whether the stuff they had was enough to trial Tom for it. He didn't have to know that James had actually called and said it wouldn't be nearly enough.

Finally it was Wednesday and she had told Tom already in the morning she had a meeting for lunch on which he looked at her pouting and telling her she had to make up for that in the evening. He also told her not to make any plans for the weekend as he wanted to take her away on a trip.

The morning seemed to take forever but finally she headed out the office waving at Tom who was on the phone with Benedict. She had texted James that she had a doctors appointment and would turn off the glasses for the duration. The weather was good so she jumped on her bike and headed down to the little café. She waited for hardly 5 minutes until Mrs. Hiddleston arrived. Seeing her Andrea stood up and shook hands with her.  
"Nice to meet you again."  
"You, too."  
They ordered some food and drinks and Andrea somehow wasn't sure about the whole thing anymore. Tom surely would be furious. As result she had no idea how to start but it didn't take long and his mum started by her own.  
"How close are you and Tom?"  
"We're good friends."  
"Are you seeing each other?"  
"No. We're just friends." She didn't want to show all her cards right away, after all there could be a good reason why he had broken the contact.  
"How is he? And please don't just say good."  
"He's doing fine. The business is going well. He's usually pretty busy but I think he likes that."  
"Does he have a girlfriend or a family?"  
"No. Not that I know of."  
She looked a bit gutted at that and finally a regretful smile spread on her face. "You know Tom has been a tiring child. Always getting into trouble. There was no week he hadn't had detention at least once a week.  
Always played pranks on teachers, students, his sisters or me. But he always seemed to be happy. Then his father and me decided that the best for him probably was a boarding school.  
We checked out a few and finally sent him to Harrington.  
Now I'm not sure if we just did it to have some more quiet and peace at home. After all he hated it. He begged us over and over again not to send him back but his marks had improved so had his behaviour. It seemed to be good for him.  
Have you heard about Harrington?"  
"Sure. It's supposed to be one of the best schools in the country."  
"Yes. But I didn't mean that." Questioning Andrea raised an eyebrow shaking her head. "Well, about two, maybe even three years back there had been a big scandal. One of the former teachers had sent a letter to some newspaper, don't quite remember which one, saying that he and at least three other teachers had abused the boys. He committed suicide after sending the letter."  
Andrea's jaw dropped as she thought about Tom's nightmare Friday night. Well, most likely not a nightmare but a trauma. She was pretty sure about that now.  
"I wish I could say I hadn't known. But I guess I just wanted to ignore it, not to have to deal with it.  
He had changed so radically. When he was home in the holidays he mostly sat in a corner with a book reading, not talking and not smiling.  
If only I could turn back the time. He never said anything, not to me anyway. Then he vanished."  
"What?"  
"Well, he had finished school and we had said we would pick him up. The day before he called and said we shouldn't bother. That was the last thing we heard from him. He changed his phone number, we didn't have an address and the university wouldn't tell us.  
My husband was furious and said we should forget about the "ungrateful bastard". I tried to contact him sending letters to the university but there was no sign of him. Until..."   
She stopped mid sentence and tears welled up in her eyes. Automatically Andrea grabbed her hand and squeezed lightly.   
"He..." She swallowed hard before clearing her throat "He had tried to kill himself. We had a call from the police telling us that our son had cut his wrist after assaulting a girl.  
First we thought it was a joke but then the hospital also called a couple of days later."  
She was full-on crying now and Andrea couldn't hold back some tears herself.  
"The doctor said he would refuse to eat and drink. He had caught the girl he loved with another guy just on the day he wanted to ask her to marry him."  
Andrea covered her open mouth with her hand in shock staring disbelievingly at her.  
"I wanted to go and see him but my husband said he didn't care about us, why should we? It took me almost two weeks to persuade him to go to Cambridge and make sure he's alright.  
By the time we arrived he wasn't there anymore. The doctor said one of his professors had shown up and talked to him and that had changed everything.  
The next day we went to the graduation ceremony. Tom was one of the years best. We were so proud. Even his dad. We tried to talk to him afterwards but he just went past us.  
Then when the article was in the newspapers I wanted to find him, talk to him. Apologise for letting him down when he would have needed me the most.  
I know I wasn't a good mother."  
Andrea still stared at her in shock. After all she had heard she couldn't believe Tom was such a strong person. The shit that had happened to him was enough for two lives at least. Still there was something she didn't get. "When you knew that there was something wrong at that school, why didn't you ask him?"  
"I did. Every time he said he wouldn't want to go back there, I asked why, but he never said a word. My husband was convinced the school was too strict for him and that was the reason."  
Andrea felt the fury and rage built up inside her. "Of course he wouldn't say what happened. But saying nothing should have been enough, especially when you had a suspicion already."  
How could someone let there child down like that? No wonder he didn't want to have anything to do with them.  
"I'm sorry but I have to go." Grabbing her jacket she pulled out some money to pay for their food and drinks.  
"Please, talk to him. I'm really sorry for everything."  
"Yeah, I believe you. Only it's like 20 years too late. Bye."  
Without looking back she headed out of the café wiping away the tears that ran down her face. She never should have met with her in the first place.

Before she could head back she needed to calm down and went to the near-by park thinking about what she just had heard about him. It really seemed to be like he had said: every time he thought he could be happy something happened. And still he was strong and loving. She loved him even more, now.

Finally she went back to the office where Damian told her that Tom was gone for the rest of the day. A bit disappointed she got back to her work and at 5 pm she left for her flat.

She steered her bike back into the underground car park at her apartment building only to see from afar that some prick was parking on her spot. But when she turned the last corner and could properly see who or better what it was her jaw dropped.  
Disbelievingly she killed her engine and got off her bike opening her helmet. Right in front of her stood the newest BMW bike, she had been geeking about. It was wrapped in a huge red ribbon and as she tugged on one end it came off easily. 360 horse-powers. And red! Tom! Surely.   
Tears of joy ran down her face. Had he really bought her a new bike? On Sunday she had told him that she would love to drive one of these, only for a day. And now there stood one right before her. She never thought she would own one of these as it was the special limited edition and they cost nearly 50000 Pounds. Wiping her tears away she wanted to turn and go upstairs to her flat. He'd surely be waiting for her.   
Then she heard footsteps behind her and with a huge smile turned around. But to her surprise it wasn't Tom.  
"Hi, Andy. What on Earth is that?"  
"James! What are you doing here?"  
"I wanted to talk to you in person." His eyes wandered back to the bike. "Is that the special edition?"   
"I think so."  
"Andrea, please tell me it's not from Hiddleston and you're double crossing us!"  
"It's from my boyfriend." Well, that was the truth after all.  
"You have a boyfriend? Who is he? When did you meet?"  
"He's a successful business man. And a couple of weeks ago."  
"Does he know who you really are?"  
"Yes."  
"Are you sure he's not been put on you by Hiddleston?"  
"Yes, James. He loves me. Truly." Although he had never said it to her, she knew it was the truth nonetheless. And the bike proofed that.  
"I bet. Michael will be really jealous when he sees that."  
Giggling she saw with horror that Tom was standing in a dark corner near the elevator.  
"Why don't we go upstairs and talk there?"  
"Not necessary. I only wanted to tell you what's going on with director Steward and the building."  
"Oh. What?"  
"There's a brothel in there. Explains everything, doesn't it?"  
"Yeah, I guess."  
"Michael is over there right now checking the place out with some of his men."  
"Okay. What are you hoping to find there?"  
"Maybe it's also used to sell the drugs."  
Worriedly she glanced over where Tom had been but he had vanished. "And you hope they'll find a connection."  
"Yes. God, I can't believe your boyfriend bought you such an expansive motorbike."  
"He's great. I think you'd like him."  
"Then why don't you introduce us."  
"Not yet."  
"Have you checked him? I mean are you really sure he's not on Hiddleston's payroll?"  
"Yes. 100 percent."  
"Okay. Good. Then have fun with your new bike. I'll keep you updated."  
"Thanks James."   
They hugged and after James had left she ran her finger over the polished metal before heading upstairs where she found Tom in the kitchen making dinner.

Without thinking much she ran over to him and wrapped her arms around his waist from behind. Immediately he tensed up holding his breath, so she let go again but couldn't stop wondering what had happened to him. She should go online and look for that article, she thought.  
"Thank you so, so, so much, Tom. It's amazing. But I'm not sure if I can accept that."  
He turned around and smiled down at her. "Oh, you can and you will."  
She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately, tears of happiness starting to run down her face.  
"I love you, Tom!" Again he tensed up and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry." She quickly apologised as she didn't want him to feel uncomfortable.  
"Don't. I... I... God!" He ran his hands through his hair looking desperate. "How hard can it be?! I wish I could..."  
She put her finger on his lips silencing him. "I know you do as well. If I'm right just blink your eyes, sweety."  
Biting on his bottom lip he tried to will away the tears forming in his eyes before he blinked them. Andrea smiled up at him and he returned it before they kissed again.

They cooked together occasionally exchanging gentle touches or looking at each other lovingly.  
"How was your meeting?"  
"Oh, ahm. Okay, I guess. By the way our legal advice said the evidence we have isn't gonna be nearly enough for a trial. So for now you're good."  
"That's perfect."  
"Have you heard what James said?"  
"Yeah."  
"Will they find anything there?"  
"Not at all. I'm just a customer there. Or better was." Winking at her he grabbed her hand and kissed the back of it. Suddenly her brows were knitted together.  
"What is that?"  
Following her glance he turned his head. "Curtains, darling." Giggling she punched his chest lightly. "You seemed to enjoy the round on the kitchen table despite your nosy neighbours but a bit more privacy is surely okay."  
"What do you mean 'nosy neighbours'?"  
"Well, an elder woman stood on her window one floor up and watched us."  
"You're joking?!"  
"Nope. Only when I winked at her she stepped back. Not for long though."  
"Gosh! Why didn't you tell me?!" Again she punched him only a bit harder this time.  
"You seemed to enjoy yourself, darling."  
"Fuck! What if she tells anybody?"  
"What? That she watched a couple having sex over the kitchen table?"  
"What if she recognised you?"  
"Stop worrying and take off your clothes. I want you. And it will take a while till dinner is ready anyway."  
While he loosened his tie she opened her blouse and unzipped her pants. Tom had only opened three buttons on his shirt when she was already down to her knickers.  
"Lie down on the table. On your back darling. Hands up."  
Sceptically raising a brow she obeyed him nevertheless. And once she was displayed on the wooden surface he walked to her head and with skilled fingers tied her wrists together with his tie before securing the other end at one of the table's legs.  
"Is that okay, my darling?"  
"Yes... Sir!" She hadn't done anything like this before but she trusted him completely.  
"You're so beautiful." He gently ran his fingers down over her arms, the side of her upper body and finally down her legs. A mischievous grin on his face he tugged his finger into the waistband of yet another pair of cotton panties and ripped them off her.  
"You know you just could have taken them off?!"  
"But where's the fun in that? Despite I'm planning to rip every last one of those panties. Maybe I should have bought you some lingerie instead of that bike. Now be a good girl and spread those lovely legs for me."  
As soon as she did his mouth was on her pussy sucking at her folds and clit. He inserted one of his long fingers into her to check if she was wet enough and when he thought she was he stood up straight again and freed his erection.  
"This will be hard. But I don't want to hurt you, so please tell me if I do."  
"Yes, Tom." She bit her bottom lip in anticipation of the soon to come intrusion.  
And like he said it was hard. When he thrust his hips forward and his cock into her the table shifted almost a foot. He kept pounding into her until she thought he wanted to fuck her in halves.  
But as he fucked her furiously he also teased her clit and played with her bouncing tits so she was close as well. His facial expression was that of a hungry lion and with a loud roar he emptied himself inside her which also sent her over.  
Heavily panting Tom had leaned forward and kissed her for a while until a funny smell drew their attention to it.  
"Shit! Dinner!" Tom quickly got up and spun around almost falling over his pants that hung between his knees. Giggling Andrea watched, still tied to the table, as he took out the roasted chicken from the oven which was slightly black on top now.  
"What are you laughing at, minx!"  
"Nothing, Sir. I just appreciate your naked butt in my kitchen."  
"Watch out, or I'll have to spank you."  
"Sorry, Sir."  
He smiled widely at her as he got rid of his shirt and trousers, only his boxers stayed on. Like that he came around to her and loosened the knot tying her down. Gently kissing her slightly marked wrists he looked at her. "I didn't hurt you too much, did I?"  
"No, Sir. It was fine. In case you didn't realise I came as well."  
He kissed her again before helping her up. 

During dinner they talked about the bike, where he got it, how much he paid for it, etc. She was really happy about the gift but somehow felt she should get him something in return. However, no matter what she suggested he just shook his head and said he just wanted her to be with him.  
After watching a movie together they went to bed and made love again. Only much slower and gentler this time. 

Facing each other Andrea's mind was spinning and her thoughts came back to her conversation with his mum that afternoon. How could he be the way he was despite all that?  
"Tom?"  
"Yes, my darling."  
She thought about how to phrase her question without revealing she knew something. "The other night, when you had that nightmare, I'm not sure it was one actually."  
He raised his brow and looked at her confused.  
"I mean, I had this seminar about trauma and then you said you had gone through some tough shit, I was thinking that maybe it was that."  
Shrugging his shoulders he looked into her eyes. He had never thought about it in that way. Maybe she was right.  
"I think I still got the card from the doctor who held the seminar. Maybe you want to talk with someone professional."  
"I'm fine, darling. But thanks."  
"Of course you can talk to me as well, if you want to. Just..."  
He silenced her with a French kiss "Everything perfect. As long as you're with me."

For a while they stared in each other's eyes with their fingers entwined and occasionally kissing.  
"Darling, what would you say if I was just a normal night club owner? Nothing else."  
"That would be perfect. But you're not."  
"Not yet, anyway."  
"What do you mean?"  
"I talked to all involved in the other activities and told them that the deals we've got going will be the last ones. I'm retiring from that stuff, so to say."  
Her eyes grew wider and her jaw dropped open. "You didn't have to do that?"  
"No. But I wanted. I've got more than enough money from the clubs. And I want to be with you. We shouldn't have to hide. And in fact I was planning to do that for a while now."  
"How did your business partners react?"  
"Some good, some not so good. But it'll be fine."  
"Be careful though. I mean I don't want you to get killed or something."  
"Don't worry, darling."  
She threw herself at him and kissed him deeply. "I really love you, Tom."

 

*****

 

After he had been to Andrea's James returned to the office. He had the night shift today. Nick informed him that Hiddleston had left a couple of hours ago but like always he had lost him after a few blocks. "It's like the guy knows which streets aren't covered with CCTV."  
"And he probably does. Anything new from Mike?"  
"No. They're still in there."  
"Okay. Good night then Nick."  
"To you too. See you tomorrow."  
"Bye."  
Once he was alone he thought about Andrea with her new ominous boyfriend. He was pretty sure about who he was. But had he bought Andrea for information? Or did he have no idea who she really was? He just hoped she would be careful.  
But maybe he was completely wrong and it really just was some business man. A sarcastic voice inside him answered "Hiddleston is a business man."  
He quickly started to check all CCTV cameras around Andrea's flat and a camera near a gym showed a dark Jaguar same model as Hiddleston's. Although he couldn't see the license plate he knew whose it was. From where it was parked it was only about 2 to 3 minutes to Andrea's flat. Shit!

About ten minutes later Michael called to tell him they hadn't found anything. It was just a normal brothel and even every girl seemed to work there at her own free will.

 

*****

 

Tom had fallen asleep quickly but no matter what Andrea tried she couldn't. Her thoughts always went back to the conversation, to the girlfriend who betrayed him which had hurt him so much that he... No. He was here, with her and she wouldn't do something like that to him. Never.  
His left arm laid stretched out towards her and in the dark light from her bedside table she could just about see the scar. They must have found him quickly otherwise he surely would have bled to death. No...  
She willed the thought away. He was with her, right here, right now. She moved her eyes from the scar up to his face. His long eyelashes making him look like a child in some way. Which only brought her back thinking about what his mum had said about Harrington and that scandal. In the back of her head she remembered reading it but she couldn't quite remember the details.  
After struggling with herself she finally grabbed her phone and opened her browser. She could have gone to the living room but was pretty sure that him being alone in bed had triggered his "nightmare", so she stayed where she was making sure his hand always made contact with her skin.  
First she only entered 'Harrington' which wasn't really helpful, so she added the word scandal and soon had found the article:

 

_Abuse at Elite Boarding School_

_We have received a letter with shocking details about teachers abusing their pupils at one of the country's best schools: Harrington. The letter was sent by a former teacher who had only recently retired. He also stated that besides him there were at least three other teachers that he knew were abusing the young boys. After sending the letter, the sender committed suicide which is why we won't use his name in respect of his family._   
_In the further article we will quote some passages from the letter, so should you wish not to read any further details then please don't continue._   
_The letter starts with the words 'I have ruined so many lives in my career that I will probably burn in hell for at least 100 years'._   
_He goes on explaining how everything got started when he watched a colleague 'having sex with a 14-year-old pupil'. Stating that first he was shocked and even went to the headmaster, Norman Willows, who worked there almost all his life and died three years ago._   
_However, Mr. Willows only recommended that he should either leave the school or adapt. And like every person he had his kinks he wouldn't share with anyone else._   
_'I loved to have power over the boys, loved the sound of my hand slapping against there skin. At first that was enough, not for long though. So I started to use the ruler on them and eventually canes. Sometimes I caned them so long until their skin broke. They often couldn't sit for a week.'_   
_Furthermore he claims he never had abused any of the boys in a sexual way as some of his colleagues had._   
_'One night I was on supervision and walked the corridors to see if the boys were in there beds. When I passed one of the single bedrooms I heard a scream. Those rooms were usually used when one of the boys got sick so he didn't infect the others._   
_To my knowledge no-one would be in there, so I walked over and slowly opened the door. I was utterly shocked to look in the crying face of a 13-year-old student while my colleague Mr. Stuart G. raped him, his hand pressed over the boys mouth to silence him.'_   
_Said teacher recently died in his house which caught fire probably due to a gas leak._   
_Of course we informed Scotland Yard immediately about the content of the letter and as a result Harrington has been closed down temporarily to investigate whether the abuse is still happening._   
_What we want to know is: How could this been hidden for such a long time? Why did everybody close their eyes or look away? It is absolutely outrageous!_   
_Scotland Yard has also installed a hotline for worried parents and affected students under the following number 567-342797._   
_Is Harrington the only boarding school our children are abused like that? We don't know. But we will try and find out more about whether our children are safe with people we pay lots money to take care of them._

 

Tears were running down her face. How could someone do that to a helpless child?! She read some more articles of teachers and the former headmaster being arrested. Some students telling what they had to go through.  
One of them was asked why he hadn't said something to his parents and the the 33-year-old said  
  
_"No one would have believed us. It was too cruel to be true._  
 _I remember one boy went to the headmaster after he had been hit. I mean the marks were still visible. You know what happened? He beat him black and blue before he raped him._  
 _Another one, a good friend of mine, jumped from the highest window of the school after he had been raped by two teachers at the same time. He broke both of his legs. He had jumped head first, we saw it, but he hit a branch of a tree which broke some ribs and turned him in the air so he landed on his feet. He just wanted to die. In his file they wrote it happened playing rugby. Well, his parents didn't care anyway."_  
  


Andrea wondered whether Tom knew the guy because they were about the same age. If he had to go through that he really had done a good job to piece himself together again. Or did he go to a psychologist?  
"What are you doing?" Tom's voice startled her. Quickly pressing the home button she closed the browser and looked over at the man she loved, who had meanwhile cuddled closer to her.  
"I couldn't sleep. Sorry, I didn't want to wake you."  
"You didn't, darling. I actually need to pee." With that he kissed her before he rolled out of the bed and left for the bathroom.  
Sighing she opened her browser again and closed the side properly and when she put her phone back down Tom came back in all his naked glory. Getting back under the covers he cuddled up against her.  
"What's bothering you, my darling?"  
"Nothing."  
"That's not true. I can see it in your eyes, the way you look at me. Is it because you worried that some drug baron will kill me? Don't worry. They know that if they do that they're going down."  
"No. Well, not only."  
"What then?"  
"You probably don't want to hear about that?"  
Furrowing his brows he leaned closer to her. "Tell me."  
She thought how to say it in the best way. "You went to Harrington, didn't you?"  
"Yes." He looked at her slightly confused.  
"About two years ago there was an article about... There was a big scandal."  
Now he looked like deer caught in the headlights of a car.  
"Is that what you were dreaming about?"  
Quietly he stared into her eyes before swallowing hard. "Yes."  
"I'm so sorry."  
"You didn't do anything." Tears welled up in his eyes. Why was she still with him if she knew about that?   
"It's amazing that you're still who you are despite that. I love you, so much." She cupped his cheek wiping away the tear that had just spilled from his right eye.  
"I love you, too."  
She just had to smile and as he realised what he had just said he smiled as well. They kissed for a while before they wrapped their arms around each other and fell asleep giving one another comfort.


	14. Time for Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tom and Andrea spend a weekend away but struggle a bit when he can't quite control himself

The rest of the week went by in a blur and Friday morning Tom asked Andrea to pack a little bag for their weekend trip. They would start right after they had finished working for the day.  
"What do I need?"  
"Well, a shirt or two, jeans, nothing too fancy."  
"Where are we going?"  
"You'll see, my darling."  
"Oh, Tom! Come on!"  
"It's a surprise. Take your bike to work and once we're done you'll take the elevator down, turn your glasses off and I'll meet you down there."   
After she had packed a few things, with Tom complaining about her underwear again, they had breakfast and afterwards he grabbed her bag and kissed her good-bye.

Once at the office everything was like usually. Tom came in a bit later but he had told her he had a meeting in the morning. She had to smile though as he was wearing the tie he had used to tie her down the other day.

From 2 o'clock they were alone at the office, well apart from her watching colleagues. Tom was in his office making phone call after phone call and she did her usual stuff ordering booze etc. and by then Tom had also shown her how to do the pay-cheques for the dancers at the club.  
She couldn't quite believe that the girls nearly earned as much as her agent salary and more than her secretary's. She had asked Tom only yesterday how that was possible and he simply had said "Because they are good." She had slapped him playfully which made him giggle and ask "Thinking about a career change?" Which had earned him another slap. Grabbing her wrists he had pinned her to the bed and kissed her all over her body before making love to her. At those memories a shudder went through her body.  
Saving what she was doing she took off her glasses and headed to the bathroom. She locked the door behind her and walked over to the toilet. Pulling up her skirt her eyes landed on a small box on the drawer next to the sink. What on Earth was that?  
Her curiosity was raised, so she let her skirt fall back down again.  
The box was pink with a black ribbon around it and as she got closer she saw there was a tag with her name on it in Tom's unreadable handwriting. Raising an eyebrow she opened the ribbon and the box, only to find a piece of paper in there. Furrowing her brows she read the message over and over again.

Be a good girl and wear this for me. Just change now!  
-Love, Tom

Shaking her head she was slightly confused, she had asked him what she should pack for the weekend, so what was that?  
She looked into the box and only saw a white wrapping paper. Pulling it aside her eyes widened as she gazed on a black bra (well, half a bra really) with a red floral pattern. It was beautiful but nothing she would usually wear.  
She lifted it out of the box to have a better look. Grinning she wanted to put it back only to see that there was something else in there. But what on Earth was that?   
The fabric was the same colours as the bra but it was really thin and had four wholes in it. She turned and shifted it in her hand until it finally dawned on her. He wanted her to wear that? No way!  
On the other hand, why not? 

After using the toilet she had made up her mind and took off her blouse first. The bra fitted perfectly pushing her breasts up. She only felt a bit self-conscious as her nipples were totally exposed. Struggling with herself she finally also took off her skirt and panties and slipped into the piece of fabric that, in her mind, didn't deserve the name underwear. It took her a moment to properly figure out how to put them on but finally she got it.   
Looking down her body she somehow felt naked. The bra was really sexy and she could understand why he would like it. But the other thing?

Just when she thought about putting her normal cotton panties back on her mobile vibrated. A text from James had just arrived  
-Where are you? Everything alright?-  
Shit! How long had she been gone from her desk?!  
Quickly getting dressed again she put her "old" underwear into the box before going back to her desk and texting James   
-Can't I even use the bathroom for a bit!!!-

At four she knocked on Tom's door. Sticking her head inside she had to smile as he was sitting with his feet on the table leaning back in the chair with his phone pressed to his ear.  
"I'm off then. Have a good weekend."  
Waving at her he said "You too" before focusing back on his conversation.

Ten minutes later Andrea was standing next to her new bike with her glasses turned off waiting for her boyfriend. Just when she wanted to call him the elevator doors opened and he stepped out grinning widely at her.  
"Sorry for keeping you waiting, darling." He kissed her on her cheek.  
"No problem. So where are we going?"  
"It's still a surprise. Put those glasses somewhere onto your bike. We won't need them." His grin widened even more when he took a closer look at her. "So you have been a good girl!" His eyes fell to her cleavage.  
"Prick." She tried to punch him but he ducked out of the way just in time. "You know I feel a bit naked actually."  
"Good. And now lets go!"

He grabbed her hand and pulled her back into the elevator. Confused she watched how he wiped his key-card over the sensor and pressed the button for the lowest floor again. She almost wanted to tell him that they were on that floor already when the elevator began to move again.  
"What the..." The door opened again and they were in the car park she remembered from her first day. "I should have known it was a private floor."  
Chris was coming towards them grinning. "Hi, Andy. Everything's ready, Tom."  
"Good." He guided her over to one of the limousines and held the door open for her. She quickly got in, totally forgetting about her "almost not there" undies which gave Tom a good view of her soaking pussy. When she realised where his eyes were and why, she quickly closed her legs causing Tom to grin at her before closing the door and rushing to the other side. As he got in, she could clearly see that her involuntary presentation hadn't left him unaffected as his hard dick was pressing against the fabric of his pants.  
Just as Chris started the car she saw Tom's Jag and remembered her bag.  
"My stuff! It's in your car."  
"Not any more, darling."

They drove through the narrow streets of the city for a bit and Andrea felt like he was driving a detour. Suddenly Tom's hand was on her knee and slowly moving upwards to her exposed centre. He leaned over and whispered in her ear "Be my good girl and spread those lovely legs."  
Nervously she looked to Chris and then back at him but he just shrugged his shoulders. She was sitting on the driver's side so he couldn't see her that good, so she let her knees fall apart and as soon as she had done that she felt Tom's fingers venture upwards.  
Biting her bottom lip she just about could stifle a moan when his fingers finally touched her clit.  
He brought her higher and higher as they left the city heading north on the motorway but then he stopped abruptly just short before she would have reached her climax.  
Accusingly she looked at him but he just leaned back licking his wet fingers clean. She pressed her thighs together in order to reach her climax nonetheless but Tom's hand pulled her legs apart slightly whispering into her ear "Soon, my darling."  
His pants were tenting by now and it must have been nearly painful for him.  
"We're there, Tom."  
She stared out the window and saw a small airport before them. Chris drove over to the hangar where he stopped the car. As he got out Tom fixed his pants making sure it wasn't obvious that he was walking about with a hard-on before he got out.  
Chris opened her door for her but soon Tom stepped to his side and offered her his hand while Chris got their stuff from the boot.  
They walked around the corner of the building and there stood a little air plane.  
"Where are we going?" She asked again. "I don't have my passport with me."  
"Won't need it."   
Chris handed their bags to a man dressed in a captain's uniform. They neared the plane and two other people came out. One was obviously a stewardess and the other one most likely one of the pilots who greeted them first.  
"Nice to see you, Tom." The two man shook hands and he introduced them all before they entered the jet.  
"Have a great weekend you two." Chris shouted after them as the door was closed.

The interior looked absolutely stunning and Andrea couldn't close her mouth.  
"Please, have a seat ma'am. We'll start shortly."  
Tom guided her over to two seats next to each other. Just when they had sat down the engines started and in wonder she watched as the plane started to roll. When finally her stupor subsided she turned to Tom. "Don't tell me that's your plane."  
"It's not. Belongs to a good friend."

After they had taken off the stewardess, Amanda, appeared and brought them a glass of champagne each.  
"Thanks, Mandy. I'll call you if I need you."  
"Of course, Sir." With that she disappeared again and they were alone. Before she knew what was going on Tom had opened his pants and pulled out his hard cock.  
"Stand up, darling. I need you!"  
"What if I don't?" She teased.  
"You won't be able to sit for the rest of the weekend." His tone was strict, not allowing any arguing.  
Grinning she slowly unbuckled her seat belt and stood up. Not fast enough for Tom, however, as he immediately grabbed her waist and shoved her onto his seat, her face to the back.  
Kneeling on the leather seat she looked over her shoulder at him, his gaze was that of a hungry lion as he grabbed the hem of her skirt and pulled it up.   
The fabric bunched at her waist and his fingers ran over her naked butt.  
"Be a good girl and bend over a bit. - That's it. Are you ready?"  
"Yes, Tom. Plea... Aaaaaah!" He entered her roughly sending her over right away.  
He waited until she had come down a bit again before he thrust violently into her while he rubbed her clit with one hand and squeezed and kneaded her tits with the other one.  
Both moaning loudly they soon came.

They drank their champagne afterwards looking each other in the eyes while she sat on his lap cuddling against his chest. She watched as the sea beneath then vanished and land appeared. Where were they going?  
Damn! Maybe she should have blackmailed him: sex for telling her their destination. Well, but that would have been torturing herself as she still had been so close from his attention in the car.  
A while later Amanda came over taking their empty glasses and telling them to buckle up as they would touch down soon.

15 minutes later they were at another small airport and their bags were carried over to a BMW limousine. Tom held her hand as they got out.  
"See you Sunday, Sir. Ma'am."  
Tom just nodded at Amanda and like back in London helped her into the car before getting in himself.  
Holding hands they watched the landscape pass by and soon Andrea had a quite clear idea where they were going.  
"Paris? Really?!"  
"Yes, have you been before?"  
"Only for a couple of hours for an assignment."  
"Well, perfect then."  
They drove into town and soon the car pulled up in front of a fancy looking hotel. Immediately someone opened her door to get out while someone else had already gotten their bags.  
Tom came to her side offering her his arm. They entered the lobby and headed straight for the VIP reception desk.  
"Bonjour monsieur. Comment puis-je t'aider?"  
To Andrea's surprise Tom answered in fluent French. "Hiddleston. Je suis réservé la suite penthouse pour le fin de semaine."  
"Monsieur et madame Hiddleston. Bienvenue à l'hôtel Regent."   
Her French was pretty limited but she understood that and was about to protest and say she wasn't “madame” Hiddleston but Tom grabbed her hand and grinned at her.  
"Elle est pas encore, mais j'espère qu'elle sera un jour.” (She is not yet but I hope she will some day.)  
"Je suis désolé, Monsieur. Votre chambre est prête." He waved over a hotel boy who escorted them to their room.  
They took the elevator to the top floor and as soon as they entered the suite Andrea's jaw dropped. A huge room spread out before her with a large sofa in the middle and to her left was even a small kitchen but the thing that was the most striking was the view: Large windows led out onto a balcony and beyond that she could see the Eiffel Tower.  
Tom stepped to her side and wrapped his arm around her waist.  
"So, what do you say?"  
She looked into his eyes and smiled. "It's magnificent." Giggling she slipped from his grip and ran to the windows. Throwing them open she stepped out onto the balcony enjoying the marvellous view.  
From afar she even could see Notre Dame and Sacré Coeur. That in combination with the setting sun was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen.  
His body pressed against hers from behind while his fingers unbuttoned and unzipped her skirt. Soon it fell to the tiled floor and moments later her blouse followed.  
"Would you turn around for me, darling?"  
Grinning she just did that and was rewarded with his somehow shocked facial expression.  
"You look stunning, my darling."  
"Thank you. Although it isn't quite fair, don't you think?"  
"Maybe. But I find myself enjoying the view very much."  
"Do you?" Seductively she reached behind herself and unclasped her bra letting it fall to the floor to the rest of her clothes.  
"Oh, yeah. Perfect." He licked his lips and his pants grew tighter every second. Slowly he loosened his tie before dropping it to the floor followed by his jacket. Andrea took a step closer to him and unbuttoned his shirt before sliding it off his strong shoulders. When she reached for his pants he stopped her grabbing her wrists.  
"Turn around, darling and bend over the balustrade and enjoy the view."  
Well, the view she wanted to see was his hard dick, so she reached for his pants again as he let go of her hands.  
"What did I say?"  
"But I want your cock, sweety."  
"You'll get it if you're a good girl and do as I say."  
Pouting she let go of his pants only to palm his hard-on through the fabric of his pants. But Tom wouldn't have it and spun her around bending her over with force. Grabbing his tie from the floor he bound her wrists at the small of her back.  
"Bad girl. And you know what happens to bad girls? - No? They get spanked." Just as the last word left his mouth he slapped her hard. A loud scream escaped her but more of surprise than actual pain. Slightly shocked she threw her head around and tried to get back up but his big hand was firmly pressed against her upper back and pushed her down. Another blow hit her bottom even harder than the one before.   
At first she enjoyed it as she had the first time but he kept going, the interval always getting shorter and when he hit her a couple of times on the upper and inner thigh quite hard she had enough.  
"Tom... Ow!... Stop that!" She squirmed under his firm grip as he kept going in the same pace and intensity. "Tom!... Fuck!... Stop!" Still no reaction and it slowly got really painful. "Tom!" She screamed on the top of her lungs now and it seemed to work as she saw him blinking his eyes and shaking his head lightly, however, he kept going.  
"Tom? Please, stop." A single tear rolled down her face because he actually scared her a bit.  
"What?" Blinking his eyes again he looked at her as he finally stopped. Then he noticed that she had tears in her eyes and he took a huge step backwards after he had release her arms. "I'm so sorry. I didn't want to hurt you. Well, not like that anyway. I'll just leave you alone. Sorry."  
Now he had tears in his eyes as well. He quickly grabbed his stuff from the floor and headed for the room. Why did he always mess it up like that, he thought, he just got carried away a bit. Shit! He would just leave the suite to her and he'd get another room. And tomorrow morning he would send her home.  
He closed the buttons on his shirt and when he closed the last one her hand reached for his.  
"Don't go, sweety. It's alright."  
Confused he stared at her. After all he had made her cry and didn't stop when she had asked him to. "What?"  
"I don't want you to go." She reached up and wiped the tears, that were running down his face, off his cheeks.  
"But I hurt you."  
"It's not too bad, sweety. Why don't we just sit down out there and enjoy the sunset?"  
"Really?"  
"Of course. Come on." She smiled at him and grabbed his hand interlacing their fingers.  
Finally there also was a tiny smile on his face again. "Okay. Just go out. I'll be with you in a moment, darling."  
"Don't run away though."  
"I won't."  
She pulled him down for a passionate kiss before she went back outside. Meanwhile Tom got the bottle of champagne and the strawberries that were waiting for them in the bathroom. He had planned to take a bath with her but, well, plans can change. He also grabbed one of the robes and followed her. Had she really forgiven him that fast? Surely not.  
Her eyes lighted up when she saw him with the bottle and the fruit.  
"Here, I don't want you to get ill."  
"Thank you. When did that arrive?"  
"I've ordered it yesterday already. Thought it would be nice."  
"It's great. Come, sit down." She padded the spot next to her while putting the fluffy robe on.  
"Are you okay?"  
Damn, did her face give away that her butt was sore when she sat back down? "Yes, I'm fine."  
"I'm really sorry. I got carried away I guess. How can I make it up to you, darling? Please tell me." Tears threatened to roll down his face again.  
"Shhhh. Well, first of all you could pour us some champagne and get your sexy ass next to mine and then we'll see."  
"You're amazing. I don't deserve you." He really didn't. Maybe all of this was too good to be true.  
"Oh, you do, Tom."  
He finally sat down and filled their glasses. They clinked their glasses and sipped the sparkling fluid.  
"Mmmmmh. That's really good." Grinning she took a strawberry and held it to his mouth. Insecure he looked at her for a moment before he bit into it. She got one herself and ate it while cuddling to his chest.  
At first he was really tense like it was the first time they cuddled but after a while he relaxed and put his arm around her.  
For a while they just sat there in silence watching the sunset and drinking champagne.  
She looked up at him eventually and he seemed to be miles away. "Tom?"  
"Yes, my darling." Blinking eyes he looked down at her.  
"Are you a dominant?"   
He swallowed hard and eventually nodded. "Well, sometimes I kind of need that. I don't know why. - No. I guess that's not true. I think it's because I need the control. A control I didn't have w..." He trailed off and shook his head. "I'm sorry."  
"It's okay. And to be honest I enjoyed it the first time and also for the beginning earlier. But when you didn't stop you kind of scared me."  
"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to. Normally there's a safe word which isn't 'stop' really."  
"So, I should say 'yellow' or 'red'?"  
"For example. I understand when you are disgusted by the mere thought of..."  
"It's okay, Tom. Like I said I found it quite hot. Gosh, when you tied me to the kitchen table... I came so hard."   
Biting her bottom lip she dropped her hand into his crotch to where obviously his cock rested on his thigh. Slowly she ran her fingers up his shaft to the tip.  
"What are you doing?"  
"Can I have your beautiful cock? - Sir. I promise I'll be good."  
Chuckling lightly he grabbed her wrist. "Then show me and kneel."  
He didn't have to say it twice as she immediately slid off the bench dropping the robe on the way. Kneeling between his legs she quickly unbuttoned and unzipped his pants taking his semi-hard dick out. In anticipation she licked her lips before she wrapped them around his thick shaft. Bobbing her head up and down his length he soon was fully erect and after a bit he stopped her.  
"Very good. Now go over where you stood earlier."  
Again she immediately obeyed and as she bend over he saw her deep red butt in the dim light of the last sun rays.  
"Stay where you are. I'll be right with you." He quickly went inside and came back out only moments later. "Now it's time for your reward, darling."  
Stepping behind her he gently ran his fingers over her buttocks to see how sore she really was. At the initial contact she flinched a bit but then she seemed to be okay. Eventually he moved his fingers to her wet slit and teased her folds.  
"Getting used to those panties?"  
"What panties?" He put his finger in the waistband and let it snap against her skin. "Oh, I thought that was dental floss."  
"Tease!"  
"Prick!"  
"You don't seem to want your reward, darling."  
"No, Sir. Please."  
"I don't know. That wasn't all too convincing." He took a step back while he pulled his shirt over his head and shoved his pants down over his hips.  
Rolling her eyes she wanted to look back at him but he chastised her. "Eyes to the front. And if your butt wouldn't be that sore already you'd get another spanking for rolling your eyes at me."  
"How did you..."  
"I just know, darling. And now beg me to fuck you."  
Well, she could play along if it meant that much to him, couldn't she?  
"Sir, please let me have your magnificent cock in my pussy. I want to cum so hard that I'll scream it out to the whole city. Please, S... Aaaaaah!"  
He roughly rammed into her and hadn't he grabbed her hips she'd possibly fallen over the balcony. "That's my good girl."  
Furiously he fucked her until she really screamed his name in pleasure. His moans got louder as well and soon just when the first stars came out they both came gasping each other's names.

After having a bubble bath they both got into the fluffy robes and wanted to get cosy on the sofa when there was a knock on the door.  
"Room service."  
Winking at her he headed for the door and a moment later he was at her side again holding a small bottle with lotion.  
"Get up, darling."  
"What? I just sat down."  
"Well, then roll to your side."  
"Do you want again already?"  
"I always want you but right now I want to ease your pain." He obviously felt uncomfortable saying that.  
Furrowing her brows she got on her belly. A second later he lifted her robe and rubbed the cool lotion into her sore skin. "I am really sorry for this. And if you don't want me anymore I totally understand that. You don't have to be afraid."  
"Tom, I love you. Still. And you're a great guy."  
She felt his hand beginning to shake against her skin and as she looked back at him tears ran down his face. The bottle of lotion fell out of his fingers and onto the floor as he slumped back on the sofa.  
"Oh, sweety. What is it? Have I said something wrong?"  
Shaking his head he tried to stop his sobs but couldn't. Quickly she got to her knees and got next to him hugging him tightly and trying to soothe him.  
"It's alright. Shhhh."  
Between sobs he got out "I've just realised you're...only the second...p...person who ever...said that...to me."   
She was somehow shocked about that as her parents always said it and even her ex-boyfriends had said it (and meant it at the time). She also found it fascinating how beneath his tough exterior he could be so vulnerable and hurt on the inside. The relationship surely wouldn't be easy but he was worth it and she hoped that they soon could be together officially.

A movie and some drinks later they lay in the huge king-size bed of the suite cuddled together in the middle after they had made love again.   
Yawning Andrea stretched "I think I'll brush my teeth and get ready for bed."  
"Sure."  
It took her a moment to unwrap her body from the sheets but finally slipped out of bed and walked over to where her bag laid to get her toiletries.  
"What the fuck?" That wasn't her stuff in the bag as on top beneath her vanity bag were two bras she never had seen in her life. Oh, no. He wouldn't?! She took them out one by one and looked at them. It was the same brand as the one she had worn that afternoon and from TV an magazines she knew one of these could easily cost about 200 Pounds or more. Besides they absolutely weren't her style, way too uncomfortable.  
"Tom? What is this?" She turned with raised arms a bra dangling down on each index finger.  
"Slingshots?"  
She couldn't help but giggle "Dork! Seriously, though."  
He leaned up on his elbows and grinned "Don't you like them? Or do you want a different colour?"  
"No. They're beautiful but impractical. You shouldn't have spent hundreds of Pounds on those."  
"Is it wrong that I want to see my girlfriend in sexy lingerie?"  
"No, of course not. But..."  
"What's the problem then?"  
Well, he was right, there wasn't a problem really. "Okay, then. Thank you so much."  
"You're very welcome."

She went to the bathroom and soon was joined by Tom and they got ready for bed.  
And ten minutes later they were back under the covers cuddled together looking out of the window to the illuminated Eiffel Tower.  
"What do you want to do tomorrow?"  
"I don't know. What do you think is the most beautiful part?"  
"Well, going up the Eiffel Tower is a must, other than that I'm pretty much open for everything."  
"Just show me your favourite spots, okay?"  
"Sure."  
"Good night, sweety. And thank you for taking me here."  
"You're welcome. Good night, darling."

Saturday morning they had breakfast in bed before getting dressed.  
Tom had gone to the bathroom to shave while Andrea got her clothes out in order to look for her cotton panties an normal bras. She liked the look of the ones Tom gave her but that was for a day in not for exploring a city, she thought. But the only things she could find was her jeans and t-shirts, no sign of her undies. She went through everything again and the only underwear was the one Tom had bought for her which were the two bras and four panties, well two thongs and two of those overt panties that went with the bras.  
She had never worn a thong before because she thought they were totally uncomfortable but as she slipped on the dark blue one she found herself surprised that it wasn't as bad as she thought. She also put on the bra which was also a push-up and made her tits look way bigger than normally. Just when she stood in front of the mirror looking at herself (and her nipples that were visible through the thin fabric) Tom came back in dressed in a pair of black boxers. When he saw her in her new undies his jaw dropped and she could have sworn she saw his cock twitch.  
"You look ravishing, darling."  
"Thanks. What did you do to my stuff?"  
"Your stuff?"  
"My undies and bras!"  
"Threw them away."  
"What?! You had no right to do that!" She actually was angry with him, after all that was HER stuff.  
"Just joking. It's in my car, in the glove compartment."  
"Dork!"  
He came over to her stepping right behind her and ran his fingers over her body. "Ready to explore?" With that he slipped his fingers between her legs and teased her clit. In pleasure she threw her head back against his chest and let out a moan.  
She almost fell over as he took a step back. "Come on, get dressed or we won't make it out at all." He grinned at her disappointed face and grabbed a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt.  
Pouting she looked at him "Just a quicky maybe?"  
"Ehehehe. No. Later, darling."  
"Fine."   
She got dressed as well and they finally headed out.

They had a great day checking out all the sights. The weather was good as well and after they had a romantic dinner cruise on the Seine they went back to the hotel both quite exhausted.  
Finally they were in there suite again and they wanted to take a hot bath again to relax their sore muscles when Andrea's phone rang. Tom looked at her furrowing his brows. Looking apologetic at him she shrugged her shoulder as she pulled her shirt off before answering her phone.  
"Hi, James. What's up?"  
"Hi, Andy. How's your weekend?"  
"Quite romantic actually. And you're actually disturbing, so if it's not important then..."  
"Well, just wanted to keep you updated: we've got a hint from an unknown source that tonight there might be some deal going on."  
"Deal?"  
"Drugs."  
"What?" Tom knelt down before her and opened her pants before shoving them down over her hips.  
"The Yard had a call from a guy saying that tonight Hiddleston would do some business with some drug baron from Morocco."  
"Oh. Okay." Well, it surely wasn't Tom as he currently was licking his way up over her covered mound.  
"We're on our way right now. I wish you could be with us. I'll call you if we've got something. Enjoy your romantic evening."  
"Thanks. Bye." Tom pushed the fabric of her thong aside and stuck his tongue between her folds. She let out a loud moan before she managed to hang up.  
For a moment she struggled whether to tell Tom about that but he wasn't there so whoever was doing it could pay for... "FUCK!" He sucked her clit into his mouth and gave it a gentle bite. That was when he withdrew.  
Licking his lips he sat back on his heels. "What was that about, darling?"  
"They got a hint that you've got something going tonight. But you don't, right?"  
"No. Not really. My only plan for tonight is to make you c... Shit!"  
He quickly got up from the floor and grabbed his phone not bothering whether she heard him or not.  
"Ben? Where are you?" Tom's face tensed up even more. "Turn around and go back home. It's a trap." Andrea watched as he ran his fingers through his hair. "I just do. Who were you talking to? - I'll send you a number, call him. - Okay. No, problem, mate. - See you."  
Questioningly she looked at him as he hung up. He quickly texted him and finally looked at her. "Sorry about that."  
"It's okay. Ben? He's involved with the drug deals as well?"  
He sat down next to her sighing "Yes. He was selling the stuff in his clubs. But since I've told him I'll draw out he thought about doing the shit by himself. I told him not to, but... Well, he wanted to try I guess. Don't tell anyone, please. He's got family."  
"I haven't heard a thing."  
"Thank you, darling. And now I think it's time for our bath." He stood up, grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder. Squeaking she giggled while slapping his back.

About an hour later they lay in bed face to face, their legs tangled together.   
"That was an awesome weekend. Thank you, Tom."  
"It's not over, yet."  
"What else have you planned?"  
"It's a secret, darling."  
Pouting she looked at him and in return he playfully pinched her ass.  
"I only wished it always could be like that and we wouldn't have to hide."  
"I know. But in about two weeks everything should be good."  
"I love you so much for doing this for us, you can't believe how much."  
"I love you, too." He somehow was surprised that it went over his lips that easily. "I only hope you won't get into trouble for being with me."  
"We haven't done anything illegal by being together."  
"Well, you just ruined your colleagues operation."  
Shrugging her shoulders she got closer to him and stole a kiss. Soon their tongues were fighting for control in a passionate kiss. That was when both their phones went off almost at the same time.  
Giggling they both checked who it was and after a brief nod to each other they both took their calls.  
Andrea got a call from James, obviously, who told her that nothing really happened and they were heading back to base.  
While Tom had a call from Ben who thanked him for sending him the contact and warning him about the leak. Of course he wouldn't let up how Tom knew but he only said that one of his contacts at the Yard had informed him. Ben also invited him over for dinner some time in the coming week as Ben Junior wanted to see his uncle and as an additional thank you. For a moment Tom thought about bringing Andrea but he stayed silent considering whether that was safe or not.

Finally they met in the bedroom again and cuddled together under the blanket and soon fell asleep holding each other.


	15. Lazy Sunday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a perfect and romantic day  
> (with loads of fluff)

In the morning Tom rushed her to get dressed and they went to a small market in Montmartre where they had brunch in a cute little restaurant.   
She was just buying some post cards when Tom sneaked up behind her and put a necklace on her. Overwhelmed she stared at the gold around her neck and ran her fingers over the little heart hanging on it which had a red gem stone on it.  
"Do you like it?"  
"I love it, Tom. Thank you sooo much. But I can only accept it, if I get you something as well.""  
"Oh, don't be stupid. And I don't really wear any sort of jewlery. Also you being with me is gift enough."  
"Still. Maybe a new watch?"  
"No, that's not necessary."  
"But I want you to have something that will always remind you of this weekend."  
"Okay. Fine then."  
She finally bought him a new watch and tie bar which had their initials engraved.

Happily they went back to the hotel and got their stuff and checked out. A limousine brought them to the small airport again and about an hour later they landed in England.

Again Chris was waiting for them and brought them back towards town. But half way there he suddenly left the motorway and Andrea glanced around confused.  
"Where are we going?"  
"Having some fun, my darling."  
Raising an eyebrow she watched as a huge smile spread over his face. What was he planning now?  
After about 5 miles they reached what looked like a farm and they got out of the car. There were three buildings: the house were obviously someone lived, a stable and another big building. Glancing around she also saw Tom's Jag was parked near the house. Was that where he lived?   
A moment later the door to the stable opened and a woman with three kids came out. As soon as the older girl saw them she came running towards them. The other two were on the woman's arms.  
"Uncle Tom!"   
"Hey, Becky!" He lifted her off the ground and threw her in the air. Giggling and squealing she threw her arms around his neck. Andrea couldn't help but smile at that as well as Chris and his wife.

They talked for a bit and finally Chris left with his family.  
"We aren't going riding, right? I mean I've never..." She gestured over to the field where four beautiful horses ran about.  
"No. I was planning something else. But if you'd rather go riding I'm up for it."  
"Well, then what have you planned?"  
"I'll show you. I just need something from my car. Just wait her, darling."  
He went over to the Jag and first opened the passenger side door getting something from the glove compartment and then went to the back and took out a big black suitcase. Grinning he came back over to her.  
"So, come on." Furrowing her brow she followed him to the third building where he got out a key and unlocked the heavy security door. Once in Tom turned on the light and Andrea's jaw dropped. Before her a huge shooting range appeared, it was at least twice the size than the one they usually trained.  
"What do you say?"  
"Fuck, that's huge. But I don't have my gun with me."  
Widely grinning Tom put the suitcase down on a small table and opened it and what she saw made her jaw nearly drop to the floor: next to two smaller guns was a huge sniper rifle even with a telescope.  
"Holy hell. Are those all yours?"  
"Yes. I even have a license for...almost all of them." With that he drew another one from the back of his pants. To her it was immediately obvious that this was the most frequently used one but probably also the only not registered one. "So, riding or shooting?"  
"Are you joking?" Without thinking much she grabbed one of the smaller guns, put the bullets in and went over to a target.

About three hours later they had shot each and every single weapon multiple times and it turned out that Tom was an even better shooter than her. Well, he must train regularly for sure, she thought.  
Both grinning widely they cleaned up a bit and finally went out to the car.  
"Tom, it's been a perfect weekend. Thank you sooo much again." Her tone was like she wanted to add a 'but', didn't, however, dare to say it.  
Chuckling he looked over at her "You want to drive the Jag, don't you?"  
Shyly grinning she nodded and without warning he threw the car keys at her although she wouldn't really need them as the ignition worked key less. Out of reflex she caught them and let out a high squeal.  
Always the gentleman he opened the door for her and got in on his side. He told her how to handle the car and soon they were off and headed back towards the city.

Speeding with 160 km/h they were getting there soon.  
"Where are we going? My place?"  
"No. I'll tell you. Except you'd rather go to your place."  
"Are we going to your's then?"  
"Clever girl."  
Finally they left the motorway and drove towards the city and he instructed her where to turn left or right.  
"Are we going back to the office?"  
"Yes, and no. Right, here."

Eventually they were back at the office building and drove into the private underground car park. She steered the car into its usual spot and killed the engine.  
"So, what's better? Riding your bike or driving the Jag?"  
"Both is brilliant. Couldn't choose only one if I had to."  
Chuckling he opened his door before holding in. Curiously she watched as he opened the glove compartment and pulled out her cotton panties and bras, as well as putting his Beretta back in. She looked at him eyebrow raised.  
"Well, you wanted them back, didn't you?"  
Snapping them out of his hand she hissed "Prick!" but immediately started to giggle. Shaking his head he joined in as he got out of the car.  
Until he was at the driver's side she had gotten out already and stroled towards him seductively swaying her hips.   
"I'll just get our stuff. You can wait by the elevator, darling."  
"Yes, ...Sir."  
Those words immediately went to his cock and he felt his jeans get tighter every second. He got both their bags and the weapons and joined her at the elevator.  
Pressing the button to call it he looked over at her and his heart nearly stopped. She stood there her blouse unbuttoned and her tits only covered by the thin fabric of her bra.  
Hadn't the 'bing' of the elevator startled him he would have fucked her right then and there.  
"Get in!" His tone was strict and commanding and somehow that aroused her quite a lot.

Once in Tom put the stuff down and held his key card to a sensor and entered a PIN and as soon as the elevator started moving he was on her. Pulling her breasts out of their confinement he sucked her already hard nipples into his mouth making her moan as she ran her fingers through his hair.  
The lift came to a halt and the doors opened. They stepped out and walked over to a security door. Andrea watched him as he again used the key card, scanned his finger print and entered another PIN. The door finally opened and he held it open for her. He stepped in right behind her dropped everything where he stood and grabbed her. Pressing her back to the wall he again licked and sucked at her tits while his fingers opened her jeans and disappeared inside the thong she was wearing.  
"Aaaaah! Toooom!"  
He shoved her jeans down over her hips and eventually spun her around. Pressing his hand against her upper back he made her bend over while he freed his erection with the other hand.  
"Grab your ankles, darling." He pushed the fabric of her undies aside as he lined up at her entrance.  
Her legs shook in anticipation and a moment after she was in position, he entered her pretty slowly.   
First he kept the slow pace but it soon wasn't enough anymore and he fucked her furiously. Everytime he brushed over her g-spot she let out a scream as the position made her tunnel even tighter and as a result it felt more intense.  
He could feel her walls getting tighter and tighter and started also to work her clit while he thrust into her violently and then with a loud scream she came around him. Thrusting into her four more times he came as well growling as he shot his seed into her.  
Wrapping his arms around her belly he tugged her up again whilst also making sure his softening penis would stay in her. He kissed down her neck as his fingers teased her rock hard nipples and eventually whispered in her ear "Welcome to my flat."  
Kissing they stayed like that for a moment but eventually moved. Both immediately missed the intimate contact of Tom's cock being buried inside her.  
They slipped off their shoes and fixed their pants again after Tom had said "If we don't get dressed again I'll fuck you the whole evening and night."  
Taking her hand in his he led her down the short hallway into a huge room.   
Blinking her eyes she couldn't quite believe what she saw: before her a huge living room spread out. In the middle of it was a black leather sofa facing the gigantic telly. On the far wall was a bookshelf with at least 100 books in it. But what took her breath away the most was the floor to ceiling window which looked out over the city.  
"Come, I'll show you the kitchen."  
Nodding she followed him to the left side of the room where, only separated by a milk glass wall, was a dining table with ten chairs and right next to it was the kitchen, completely in white with black marble work tops. And again there were panorama windows looking out over the city.  
"Do you want something to drink, my darling?"  
"Ahm, sure."   
Letting go of her hand he walked over to the fridge. "Water, beer, wine, coke?"  
"Just some water for now, please. Thank you."  
He poured some into two glasses and handed her one.  
"Are you okay, darling? You look a bit...pale."  
"I'm just a little overwhelmed, I guess."  
"So you like it?"  
"It's beautiful."  
"And you haven't even seen the best bits. Come."  
He led her back into the livingroom where he headed towards the bookshelf and next to it entered another hallway.  
"Guestroom and my office on the right." He pointed to the doors on the far side and turned left where he opened another door and they stood in the bathroom.  
Once more her jaw dropped as she saw there were a gigantic shower and even a Jacuzzi. Also once more the view was striking and as the room faced west she imagined how it would be sitting in the Jacuzzi with him while watching the sunset.  
"Can we try that later?" Shyly grinning at him she pointed at the big tub.  
"Definitely. And last but not least." He tugged her out again and to the last door which was half open and as he opened it she saw his huge bed right in the middle of the room and to the right was even a terrace. The bedroom was the only room so far that didn't have the floor to ceiling windows but probably because that just would be too bright.  
Grinning hugely she looked at him as she quickly headed over to the doors leading out on the terrace. She opened it and stepped out in the late-afternoon sun and again the magnificent view struck her. There were two deck chairs, two normal ones and a little table. Leaving them behind she headed to the balustrade and looked around.  
All the other buildings around were a bit smaller so no-one would see what was going on up here. Still in awe she could feel his body pressing against hers. Trapping her he put his hands to both her sides as he rubbed his crotch against her backside.  
"And? What do you say?"  
"It's absolutely amazing."   
He leaned down and kissed her neck while he interlaced his fingers with hers. Wiggling her hips against him she could feel his already growing erection. "Again? So soon?"  
"Always. I could literally fuck you 24/7."  
"Well, then, Sir. Where do you want me?"  
"Bed." He gasped as his hips involuntarily thrust against her. "Naked."

About an hour and three orgasms for her (two for him) later they laid completely nude on top of his sheets with him on his back and her on top of him. Her fingers gently toyed with his chest hair while he teased her butt.  
"That was really amazing, Sir."  
"Yeah. Are you hungry, my darling?"  
"A bit maybe."  
"Okay, then I'll cook us something."  
"You can cook?"  
"What's so surprising about that?"  
Shrugging her shoulders she said "Nothing."  
He gave her butt a quite hard slap before he rolled her off of him. Getting his boxers he stood up and left her alone in his bed.

Once he was gone she rolled onto her back and grabbed a pillow to silence the scream of happiness that came out of her. Grinning like a fool she turned to put the pillow back but what she saw there on the sheet made her blood freeze: a long black hair which surely wasn't hers.  
Had he slept with someone else despite his promise? The sheets smelled fresh, so they couldn't have been on for too long. And with his almost insatiable appetite for sex it wouldn't be a surprise if he had. Or maybe all of this was just a show and he just used her to get information about their investigation.   
Her heart screamed at her that she shouldn't be that stupid, he wouldn't have done the things he did if he didn't truely love her, nevermind tell her all those things.   
But her brain didn't want to here that. After all he was a master criminal, they hadn't caught for years and they didn't have a single evidence against. He was just too clever.  
Her head started spinning. What was she doing here anyway? Spending time with the criminal she was supposed to take down! That surely would cost her job. Was it really worth that? After she had spent years of hard training to get it?

What was that? She listened closely again. There was definitely a female voice speaking. Looking around her she grabbed the first piece of clothing she saw which happened to be his shirt. Quickly turning it on she slowly opened the door and tiptoed down the hall. When she reached the door to the livingroom she clearly could here her: the Latin sex bomb.  
Of course she didn't stand a chance against her.  
"...semana, mi amor?"  
She didn't need to speak Spanish to know what those words meant.  
"It was good. And it's not over just yet."  
"¿Cómo?"  
"Well, I'm making dinner for us, you know."  
"¿Está aquí?"  
"Yes, she's in the bedroom."  
"Well, you really trust her then, bringing her here."  
"Yes. She's great."  
"You've really fallen for her, haven't you?" He really loved her??? But the hair! Maybe she was just cleaning up for him.  
"I just hope I'm not making a total fool out of myself again. I mean I also was convinced about... And... What do you think? Is she just waiting for the right moment to stab me in the back, so to speak?"  
"No sé. But I know she makes you happy. Do you want me to talk to her."  
"Hmm. Maybe."  
"The only bad thing is I don't get to have sex with you anymore. And I really need a good fuck. Do you think she'd be up for a threesome?"  
"Ehehehe. I don't think so."  
"No? Is she a bit prude?"  
"No. Yes, maybe a bit. But that's alright."  
"¡Mierda! I really miss our sex sessions. Can't you make an exception and we'll have a quicky?"  
"No. Sorry, Salma. But I don't want to ruin everything we've built up."  
"Damn! What are you cooking?"   
"Baked potatoes, sour cream and steak."  
"You really love that girl. I'm almost jealous, mi amor."  
"I do. Yes. Ans I actually managed to say it to her."  
"Really?! That's a big improvement."  
What?! Andrea had heard enough. He loved her truely and she would do everything to show him that she did too, so she stepped out of her hiding place and headed towards them.  
As soon as he saw her a huge smile spread over his face.  
"Oh, hi, darling. You know Salma, right?"  
"Yes. Hi." They shook hands but other than that ogled each other suspicously.  
"Dinner will be ready in a bit."  
"That's okay. What are you doing here?" Damn, that came out colder than she had intended.  
"Visiting my brother."  
"Your brother?"  
"Tom is like a little brother to me."  
Raising an eyebrow she looked over at him but he just shrugged his shoulders. "Do you want to eat outside on the terrace, darling?"  
"Sure. Why not?"  
"Good. Would you bring out the dishes and silver wear then. Thank you."  
"Of course." She grabbed the two dishes he had already put on the counter along with some other stuff.  
"I'll help you." With that Salma took the rest and both women left.

First they didn't say a word but as they set up the table Salma spoke "So what are you planning?"  
"What?"  
"Are you gathering information and once you have enough you give him away?"  
"No. I really love him. I mean I'm even risking my carrier for him."  
"Says the traitor?!"  
"I'm not. Otherwise I already would have. And I know he has been hurt badly in the past and I won't do that to him."  
Furrowing her brows she looks back to the glass doors. "What do you know?"  
"I know about his...childhood which wasn't really good, I guess. I know the story about the scar on his wrist and I have a hunch about what was going on with his former secretary."  
"He's told you?!" She was utterly shocked. Did he really trust her like that?!  
"Not really. I've asked him about his time at Harrington and the scandal a couple of years ago and his reaction was enough."  
"And the attempted suicide?"  
Goosebumps spread over Andrea's body at those cruel sounding words. "Don't tell him but I met with his mum hoping to get them together somehow. I didn't know about Harrington then. She told me and I just wanted to strangle her for letting her kid down like that."  
"You really care for him. That's good. He deserves someone like that. But should you ever break his heart, you'll regret it! Claro?!"  
"Yes. And I won't. Can I ask you something,though?"  
"Sure."  
"How does your hair get onto his sheets? Have you slept together?"  
"We haven't had sex ever since you two got together. But sometimes I just sleep next to him. He sleeps better if there's someone with him."  
"Yeah, I guess I noticed that as well."  
The two women hugged and when Salma turned to leave Andrea said "Generally I'm up for a threesome but not tonight."  
Spinning around Salma looked at her and smiled at her. "Have a lovely evening."

So he really loved her, as did she and if she really was honest with herself she hadn't felt for anybody like that before. He was her everything.

Inhaling deeply she smelled his masculine scent on his shirt and immediately felt aroused. She had never thought that something like this was even possible. Grinning to herself she turned and walked in. He still was busy in the kitchen, so she sneaked to her bag and pulled out the ouvert panties that went with the bra she had been wearing earlier. Putting them on she walked back to the kitchen to see how far he was with their food.  
As soon as he saw her a huge, heartmelting smile spread on his face.  
"My shirt really suits you, darling."  
"And it smells absolutely delicious."  
"Ehehehe. Speaking of delicious, this will be ready in a moment."  
"Great. What else do we need? Something to drink maybe?"  
"Yeah. Do you want red wine with your steak?"  
"No. I'm not really a wine-drinker. I think I'll rather have a beer."  
"Get me one as well, would you?"  
"Of course. I'll be waiting outside for you."  
Swaying her hips she walked back towards the bedroom where she quickly shed the shirt and put on the bra.   
Only in her lingerie she walked out on the terrace and put the beers down on the table, then she headed over to one of the deck-chairs and laid down a bit on her side with one leg propped up. However, the cold evening wind against her wet folds made her shiver slight and her nipples got hard.  
It didn't take long and Tom appeared with a pan and a bowl in his hands.  
"Well, hello there." His eyebrows went up as he saw her sprawled out before him like that.  
"See something that you like, Sir?"  
"Oh, yes. Definitely. But I don't want dinner to get cold, so get up and come over here."  
A bit disappointed she obeyed him and they had dinner together.

The sun was slowly going down as they cleaned first the table and then the kitchen. Both were actually not sad about going back inside as the wind had freshened.  
When the kitchen was finally clean Tom grabbed her and sat her up on the counter spreading her legs.  
"Lean back, hands on the edge of the counter behind you."  
Obeying him she spread her legs even wider to show him just how wet she was for him.  
"If you want me to stop use a safe word, okay? Yellow for a break, red for immediately stopping. Clear."  
"Yes, Sir." What the hell would he do to her?  
Smiling slightly at her he claimed her mouth for a passionate kiss while his fingers tugged the fabric of her bra down to expose her sensitive nipples. He broke their kiss and slowly kissed and nibbed down her neck over her cleavage to her nipples.  
At first he licked, sucked and kissed gently until she began moaning but then he bit down hard making her scream as his teeth dug into her hard buds one after the other. Insecure he looked up at her and as she gave him a small nod he continued biting and sucking really hard. She could feel her juices run out of her pussy as she eventually threw her head back closing her eyes. Out of reflex she wanted to press her thighs together but his firm grip on her thighs prevented that.  
Suddenly his mouth was gone from her chest and as she looked down her body she noticed shocked how her breasts looked: they were covered in love bites all the way up to her cleavage. Just when she wanted to scold him for that he licked along her slit tugging her closer to the edge of the counter. A moment later his tongue parted her folds and she let out a loud moan.  
Again she threw her head back as he worked her clit with his skilled tongue. She was close to her orgasm when he bit down on her clit and inner folds tugging at them like an animal at its prey.  
"Fuuuuuck!"   
He kept biting down on her pussy while occasionally sucking as much of her pussy in his mouth as possible and when he bit down on her clit again she came hard screaming his name.

Kissing up her body, soon his lips claimed hers again. Letting go of the counter she ran her fingers through his soft hair. Pulling back a bit he looked at her "Everything okay, my darling?"  
"Yes, that was amazing."  
"Not too rough?"   
She wiped her juices off his chin and smiled "No, it was okay. Although I fear I'll have to wear a turtle neck for the rest of the week."  
She looked down to her chest and his gaze followed hers. Somehow shocked he stared at the already visible marks he'd left on her and they surely would get worse.  
"Sorry. I just wanted to mark you as mine, my darling."  
"It's alright. Nothing that can't be covered with some clothes."  
"Good. And now lets have a bath."  
He lifted her off the counter and put her onto her feet. Confused she looked down as she felt she was standing in a puddle. Had they spilled some water on the floor when they cleaned up?  
She took a step back and looked down there again, only to see that there were droplets of fluid running down from where she had just sat. Had she accidently peed herself?  
Tom stroked over her cheek "Looks like someone has squirted all over my kitchen!"  
Shocked she looked up at him. "Squirted?"  
"Yap. Looks like it."  
She had heard about that but had never before experienced it herself and had actually been thinking it was just a myth. Embarassed she looked around for a tissues to clean it up.  
"Go to the bathroom and run us a hot bath while I'll clean that up."  
"I will d..."  
"Oh, don't be ashamed, love. I'll take it as a compliment. And now go."

Andrea stood by the huge windows looking out while the water ran into the tub and soon she felt Tom's body warmth come closer to her. The sky was a deep orange as the sun was slowly setting. His arms wrappe around her waist and he leaned down to kiss her cheek.  
"I don't think I've ever been so happy."  
"Me neither, sweety. I love you so much."  
"I love you, too. Gosh, I still can't believe how easily that leaves my lips for you."  
"You're the best thing that ever happened to me, Tom. And I hope I'll never disappoint you like so many other people obviously have."  
"I'm sure you won't. And now lets have a bath."

Arms wrapped around each other they sat in the Jacuzzi watching the sun finally go down.  
"Ben has invited me for dinner some time this week and I was thinking whether to take you with me. But I'm not sure if it would be a good idea."  
A bit confused she looked at him. "Why? I thought he's your friend."  
"He is but I don't quite know about his wife and what if Ben Junior tells anybody. I mean that's just how children are."  
"Yes, that's right. Well, you could go there and come to my place afterwards or I'll wait for you here."  
"Only if you're okay with it."  
"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I?"  
"I don't know."

About an hour later they laid cuddled up in bed exchanging kisses while tenderly making love. It felt like they were the only people in the world.


	16. Show Down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quite a dramatic chapter coming up

Monday morning Andrea woke to Tom's fingers ghosting over her skin. Enjoying the gentle touches she kept still pretending to be still sleeping. But as he ran his fingertips over her nipple she couldn't stifle a moan.  
"Good morning, my darling. Time to get up."  
Wiggling her hips she cuddled back against him. "But I don't want to get up."  
"Why not?" He stuck out his tongue and ran it up and down her neck and eventually kissed her cheek.  
"Because then our weekend together is over and I don't want it to end. Never."  
Chuckling he kissed her on her lips this time. "I totally understand that but I fear at least I have to get up." He kissed her again and stood up heading completely nude down the hall to the bathroom.

Sighing she watched him go. "What a view early in the morning." Only now she looked at the alarm clock on his bedside table and almost had a heart attack: it was already 7.45!  
Swearing she jumped up and followed him to the bathroom.  
She used the toilet while Tom stood by the sink shaving and a moment later she stood by his side.  
"Did you sleep well, my darling?"  
"Yes, like a stone." Her eyes glanced into the mirror and she froze as she saw her chest. Both her tits were purple, covered in love bites. There was also one on her neck and as she looked down she saw another one on her mound.  
"You look lovely. And entirely mine!"  
"Tom! I have to walk around like that!"  
"And? You'll be wearing clothes, won't you?"  
"Prick!"  
"Ehehehe. Careful, darling." To warn her he ran his fingers over her buttocks which actually still were a bit sore from Friday.

While she showered and got dressed he made them breakfast and after eating together they headed downstairs. Tom brought her to her bike and they shared a passionate kiss once more.  
"Your's tonight, darling?"  
"Yes. As I need fresh clothes. If only nobody notices that I'm wearing the same stuff as Friday."  
"And if so?"  
Her phone rang and of course it was James. "See you upstairs, sweety."  
Kissing her again he slapped her bottom playfully and disappeared into the elevator.

"Hi, James."  
"Where the hell are you?"  
"Right at work."  
"What? What about the glasses?"  
"Jesus, I just arrived. What the hell is wrong with you?"  
"I've been worried. Well, we. After all you're after a criminal. What if your cover is blown?"  
"It's not. And I still doubt that there's something going on." Maybe she could convince them.  
"About that, we have a meeting tonight actually. See you at base at six."  
"Whatever." Oh, no! She wanted to spend her evening with Tom.  
"How was your weekend?"  
"Great. And now I have to go, or I'll be late."  
"Sure, we'll talk tonight."

 

***

 

James hung up and shook his head. There was something wrong with her. Maybe he had misinterpreted everything and she wasn't seeing Hiddleston and he had been at her's to blackmail her or something like that. Whatever it was he needed to help her.  
He went back over to the others in the observation room just when the screen went on and they watched Andrea as she took the elevator upstairs.  
For a while they just watched her do her stuff. Quite boring actually.  
By noon Michael came back from a questioning.  
"Guys, you won't believe this! The guy who gave us the anonymous tip works for Jackman. He also said that our dear friend was a regular customer and the deal that was to go down on Saturday was called off last minute by Hiddleston's men. I'm sure someone warned the bastard!"

 

***

 

Finally Andrea was done working for the day and headed home. She wanted to change before their meeting and rest at least for a bit.  
She wasn't home long when the door opened and Tom stepped in. Coming over to her he kissed her tenderly. "Dinner and a movie?"  
"Nothing I'd rather do but I have to go to a meeting with my colleagues. But maybe you could wait here for me."  
"Okay, sure. What is it about?"  
"I'm not sure. But probably something about Saturday. You don't have a clue who leaked the information, do you?"  
"Not 100 percent. But my people are on it." In fact he had just talked to Jackman who told him he was already dealing with the traitor but she didn't have to know that.  
"Please, don't. I mean what if our guys are watching him?"  
"Don't worry, darling."

 

***

 

Half an hour later she parked her new bike in front of their base and went in.  
Nick and James were sitting in front of a screen when Anne-Marie let her in. They hugged briefly before Andrea went over to the two men. But when she saw what they were looking at her heart nearly stopped: it was her driving Tom's Jag. Luckily the sunshade was down and covered her face.  
"What are you guys doing?" She asked carefully.  
"Andy, hi." James spun around and hugged her while kissing her cheek. "You look good. So I guess the weekend was alright."  
"It was perfect."  
"What did you do?" Anne-Marie stepped to her side "Is that a love bite on your neck?"  
Automatically her hand moved up to cover it but it was too late as James and Nick had already seen it.  
Sighing she nodded "Yes, obviously. He's very passionate. And he took me to Paris."  
"Really?" They stared at her disbelievingly.  
"No, I'm just making that up. And now enough about me. Why are we here?"  
"Well, the guy who gave us the information works for Jackman. Remember the guy we were supposed to investigate against before the Hiddleston case came up."  
"Oh, yeah."  
"Looks like they are regularly doing business together. And we're trying to find the leak as the deal was called off from Hiddleston's side at short notice."  
She wished she could tell them Tom had nothing to do with that. "Who says it was him in the first place?"  
"Our informant."  
"And why do we trust in what he says?"  
"He's shown us documents linking Jackman, del Toro and Hiddeston."  
Oh, no! "Great. Then why don't we arrest them all?" She felt so uneasy, she knew this wouldn't end well.  
"It's not enough to proof anything as there's no mention of drugs. Our only chance is to catch them in the act."  
Right then the door opened and Michael came in swearing. "Fucking bullshit! Our informant was just fished from the Thames. Dead."  
"Murdered?"  
"Probably. However, the pathologist said it also could have been an accident. So we're back where we started. FUCK!!!"  
He kicked a chair over and everybody flinched, only Andrea took a slightly relieved breath.  
"I thought your guys followed and watched him?" Nick wanted to know.  
"They lost him after a bit. Fuck! There's a light at the end of the tunnel and it just turns out to be a car coming towards you. I can't wait till the day we nail that son of a bitch!"  
"Cool down Mike." James grabbed his arm and tried to calm him. "We know Jackman's got to do something with it and by chance we've got people investigating against him at the MI6. Good people! I'll check with them what they've got so far."  
"Is their anything else, we need to discuss? Otherwise..."  
"You'll go back to your Romeo?" James lifted an eyebrow at her. "When will we meet him?"  
"Don't know." Was there hostility in her colleague's and friend's tone?  
"He's just jealous." Anne-Marie winked at her.  
"I bet. Well, then. See you guys and let me hear if you've got something."

She was just about to put her helmet back on when James suddenly was at her side.  
“Andy, hang on a sec.”  
“What's up James?”  
“I want to ask you something without the others hearing it.”  
Curious she lifted her brow. “What?”  
“I've seen Hiddleston's car park close to your apartment the other night and I was worrying that he's blackmailing you or something.”  
“Don't be ridiculous, James!” With that she closed her visor and started the engine.

 

***

 

Once entering her flat again she was overwhelmed by the delicious smell coming towards her. She quickly pulled off her shoes and jacket and headed down the hall to the kitchen. But it was empty.   
"Tom? I'm home."  
"In here, darling." That came from her bedroom and as she went in she froze: Tom was lying on her bed only in his boxers her vibrator in his hands. When he saw her shocked face he chuckled.   
"Your actually naughtier than I thought, my darling."  
"Would you put that down, please. And why are you going through my stuff in the first place?" Thinking about it she actually was angry with him. He surely wouldn't approve of her going through his stuff.  
"Are you angry at me?" Faking an innocent smile he blinked his eyes at her which melted her heart a bit again.  
"Yes, Mister!"  
"How can I make it up to you, my sweet darling? Maybe some nice dinner?"  
Giggling and shaking her head she caught the vibrator from his hand and put it back in the drawer. "Maybe."  
"Good. Then take off your clothes and come to the kitchen." Winking at her he quickly got up shedding his boxers.  
"Naked dinner?!"  
"Why not?"  
"Are you an exhibitionist?"  
"Only around you, my darling. And now quick! I'm hungry." He said the last words with a low growl that made it sound like pure sex.

After she had gotten naked as well she headed to the kitchen where he set everything up. But one moment! "Only one plate? Aren't you hungry as well?"  
"No need for more." She saw he was lazily stroking his dick which was almost fully erected by now.  
Furrowing her brows she watched as he put the pot with their dinner on the table and sat down on the chair with the dish before it. Tabbing his thigh he gestured for her to sit down on his lap.  
"What the hell are you doing?"  
"I'll fuck my girlfriend while we eat. And now come here!" That was an order and the trained agent in her obeyed.  
Grabbing her waist he spun her around, so her back was to his front, and slowly sat her onto his hard-on. Gasping she gripped his knees as she felt him stretch her. And just as he had said, they fucked while eating the delicious stew he had made.

They cleaned up together and headed to her bedroom afterwards.  
"I've never done that."  
"Did you like it, though?"  
"Hmm... Yes. I guess I did."  
"Good." They cuddled together under her covers and exchanged hot kisses. Soon she felt his erection growing again and as his fingers started to explore her folds she stopped him.  
"Tom, I have to ask you a favour."  
"Sure, love."  
"If you've got anything going with Jackman then call it off."  
"Who?"  
"Hugh Jackman. He's got an import agency. And I or ,shall I say, we know he's linked to both del Toro and you. So please..."  
"Okay. Sure."  
"Have you or your man killed the guy who gave the hint to the Yard?"  
"He's dead?"  
"Yes. They found him floating in the Thames."  
"That was fast."  
"Tom!"  
"No, it wasn't me. Nor my men. I don't even know who he was."  
"Good. Shit. Now I've ruined the mood. Sorry."  
"Well, then close your eyes and I'll see what I can do."  
She did but after she felt him leave her side her curiosity got the better of her and she carefully blinked her eyes.  
"No cheating!" Tom suddenly was back with her and threw her blanket up and over her head. Completely blind she listened closely to him move around.  
"Raise your arms, darling." For a moment she didn't move thinking about what to do. "Do you trust me, my darling?"  
Yes, she did. So she lifted her arms upwards and a moment later she felt that he was wrapping something around her wrists. When he let go of her arms again she tried to move them but found them tied down wrist to wrist.  
"Remember, if you need to stop say yellow or red. Okay?"  
"Yes... Sir."  
"Good girl." Next he grabbed her ankles and parted her legs as far as they would go before also tying them to the bed. "Everything good, little darling?"  
"Yes, Sir. But may I see you?"  
"Not now."   
She felt the matrass shift beneath his weight and seconds later his mouth was on her breasts, gently licking and kissing her nipples.  
"I love that you have my marks on you, my darling."  
As answer she let out a moan while he continued to tease her already hard buds. A few moments later two of his fingers slowly entered her stroking over her walls. He kept going for a while before adding his thumb toying with her oversensitive clit. And just like that she came screaming his name.  
Still heavily breathing she felt him leave and actually heard him walk down the hall. Would he leave her like that? Tied down and helpless? Surely not. But after a bit he came back into the room.  
"You don't mind if I take a picture of you like that, do you?"  
"Tom! You can't..." Right then she heard the camera tone from his smartphone and wanted to start yelling at him.  
"Soooo beautiful." The blanket was lifted off her face and he laid down next to her showin her the screen or better the pic of her naked, exposed body.  
"Please delete that!"  
"No way! So I can look at what is mine whenever I want. Perfect."  
He locked his phone and put it down on the bedside table. Trying to get it from him she was reminded of her predicament.  
"Would you release me please, Sir?"  
"That wasn't very convincing, pet. But no as I'm not nearly done with you." A mischievous grin spread on his face as he rolled to his side and opened the lower drawer of her nightstand.  
"No, Tom. You won't use that on me. No."  
Raising his brows he held the vibrator to her face "Do you mean this quite useful device? Oh, I will." After a short pause he added "If you don't want it you know what to say."  
For a moment she really considered it but decided she could go along with it and if she felt unsafe or too embarrassed she still could stop him.  
Nodding briefly he studied how the thing worked and a moment later it came to life with a low buzzing sound.  
"Relax, my darling. I just want to pleasure you." He looked at her for a moment and put the blanket back over her head. Maybe she would feel less exposed when she didn't see him watch her.  
Parting her folds he slowly pushed the toy into her and immediately her hips bucked and a loud moan came from her.  
He tried another button and the buzzing sound changed from constant to a fast interval making her moans even louder. Grinning he turned the switch making the vibrations faster until the highest setting was reached and it didn't take long and she came again.  
However, he didn't turn the thing off and left it where it was. Sitting back he stroked his own cock while watched her hips beginning to wiggle in order to escape the torment.  
She had come again two times when she started begging him to turn the vibrator off.  Her muscles were squirming and sweat ran down her body but he didn't release her right away.  
"Pleas, Tom!...Ahhhh!...turn it...Fuck!...oooooff!"  
Eventually he had mercy on her, turned the device off and slipped it out of her dripping cunt. Putting it onto a hanky on the bedside table he gently stroked over her mound while his other hand pulled the blanket from her eyes.  
Her tear stained eyes looked at him as he leaned down to kiss her.  
"Everything alright, sweet darling?"  
"Yes. Could you untie me now, please."  
Before he could answer she knew already what would happen next. "Not just yet, darling."   
Leaning down he licked over her hyper-sensitive nipples which was, combined with the strokes over her mound, enough to send her over once again.  
"Aaaaaaaaah! Thomasss!"  
His hips bucked into her thigh searching for some relief. He waited until her orgasm had subsided and then got between her spread legs lining up his erection with her entrance. And kissing her passionately he thrust his thick shaft into her tight pussy.   
Screaming in mostly pleasure she tugged on her bindings as her walls grew tighter and tighter around him. It felt like if she had another orgasm she would die. But Tom didn't seem to care as he thrust pretty violently into her grunting like an animal.  
Her cunt was already sore and with every thrust of his the sensetivity grew and it was almost painful.   
However, after a while suddenly the most intense orgasm of the night - and actually of her life - washed over her and she let out a deaphening scream.   
Her walls squeezed his cock so tightly that he wonder for a moment if she'd ever let him go again. Another buck of his hips and he came deep inside her grunting and growling in pleasure.

As he had calmed, his dick still buried inside her, he registered that she was shaking and tears streaming down her face. As fast as possible he pulled out and untied the knots binding her limbs.   
Pulling her head against his chest he rolled them both on the side and covered them with the blanket. She was slowly calming down with him stroking her head when a knock on the door startled him.  
"Darling, there's someone at your door." He pulled back a bit and was somehow shocked at her distant face. "Darling?" No reaction. "Andrea?"  
There was another knock and a woman's voice calling her name.   
"Fuck." He reluctantly let go of her, turned on his boxers and went to the door.   
An older woman stared back at him as he slowly opened the door.  
"Good evening, ma'am."  
"Where is Andrea?" Her voice was stern as was her glance.  
"She's in bed. Sleeping already."  
"What have you done to her, son? And don't say nothing as I heard her screaming all the way over in my flat."  
Had she been that loud? "Ahm... We, well, just did what people do."  
"I want to talk to her."  
"Like I said she's sleeping already."  
"Then let me in and see her or I'll call the cops!" She held her mobile in hand and he could see that she had already typed in the numbers.  
"Okay, sure." He opened the door wider and she quickly passed him throwing him a sceptical glance.  
"If you come too close, I'll call the cops as well."  
"Fair enough. Down the hall, last on the left." He closed the door behind them and watched her as she proceeded down the dim hall. Slightly nervous he watched her turn to the door.   
What would she do when she saw Andrea staring at nothing with tears running down her face? Well, most likely think he had raped her and call the cops. She disappeared into the room and he sprinted down the corridor stopping at the bedroom door.  
The woman stood next to the bed and looked down at his sleeping girlfriend. Then her eyes wandered over to the rope he had used to tie her right ankle down. And for a moment his heart nearly stopped as she lifted her phone to her face. But to his surprise she pressed the red button and turned towards him. Was she blushing?  
She headed towards him and he stepped aside to let her pass him. Closing the door she turned to him offering her hand "I'm Judie. And you must be the guy who scared off the grumpy, old bastard from next door."  
"Tom. Nice to meet you."  
"You too, young man. Sorry for disturbing you but she really sounded like she was in pain. But I guess it was more the opposite."  
"It's alright. Sorry for causing you worry. And also, thank you for worrying about her."  
"Oh, she's a lovely girl. Always alone. But not anymore it seems. Treat her good. She's a great girl, a bit like a daughter actually."  
"I will. And yes, she is a great girl."  
"Good night then, Tom."  
"To you too." He saw her out and relieved fell with his back to the door.

After he had gotten some water he went back to the bedroom. Cuddling back next to her he wrapped his hands around her body and pressed her to his chest again. Whilst stroking and kissing her head he eventually fell asleep himself.

 

***

 

The rest of the week they switched places: one night she stayed at his the other night at her's. It was perfect. Or almost perfect as they still had to hide at the office and more than once he felt the need to just grab and kiss her.  
Thursday evening she sat on his sofa watching a movie while he was in his office talking to Ben and destroyed some documents.   
Eventually he came back to her falling on the sofa next to her.  
"Looks like I'm invited for dinner tomorrow."  
Pouting she looked at him "But you have to promise that you come to my place afterwards."  
"Of course I will. And maybe you can go out as well and spend some time with your friends."  
"Maybe."  
"Oh, by the way..." Without warning he pulled her over his lap, face down, and shoved her short skirt upwards. "What the hell were you thinking, little girl?"  
"What?"  
"Coming to my office for taking down a letter and showing me your dripping pussy in front of your colleagues?!" He parted her legs and teased her folds as she squirmed beneath him trying to escape his touch.  
"Well, who was wearing a shirt so tight you could literally see every muscle, nevermind the tight pants where the outline of your cock was completely visible! I was so wet all day!"  
"So you decided to have your revenge today by wearing the shortest skirt you have combined with the panties and bra I've bought you. You know I could see your bare nipples through the thin fabric of your blouse."  
"Good."  
"Good? I had to wank off in my office when you were gone!"

She had, of course, noticed how hard it had made him. But two could play this game. In the morning she had put on the lingerie she had worn for him the Friday before and when he had called her to his office she had pulled off her jacket knowing that her breasts were clearly visible through the thin, white fabric. Immediately she had seen his jaw drop when he entered the room. Sitting down on the chair before him she had spread her legs as wide as the armrests had allowed it showing him her cunt.

"Damn, what I would give to have seen that."  
"Tease!" The first slap landed on her butt. It wasn't hard, more playful and asking for permission to continue. Turning her head she looked at him and nodded almost unnoticeable. "Yellow and red, remember."  
"Yes, Sir." After their orgasm session, as she inwardly called it, on Monday she had researched a bit about BDSM and was quite turned on by some of the things.

He gave her 56 spanks before she whispered "yellow" and he immediately stopped. Carrying her to his bedroom he undressed her before getting naked himself and after a few minutes of comforting and cuddling he made love to her.

 

***

 

Friday was a horrible day. In the morning the boss from the club in Edinburgh called to tell him that they had a fire the previous night and it would surely take three to four weeks at least to get everything back together.  
Half an hour later Max from the club in Manchester called to tell him that one of the girls had been raped on the parking lot.  
Like that the day continued and when Salma came in around lunch time he was totally exhausted.  
"You know what would help you feel better, mi amor?"  
"A bottle of whiskey?"  
"That as well. But I was thinking of something less bad for your health." Raising an eyebrow he looked at her. "Simple: sex!"  
"Yeah, only that she's wearing those stupid glasses."  
"Call her in and tell her to do something. I'll take the glasses and wear them for her as long as you two want. And when you're finished we switch again."  
"And how should that work without them noticing?"  
"It will."  
Well, she was right: some time with Andrea alone would surely make him feel better, so he pressed the button and called her in. When she came in Salma stood close to her while he asked her to call the Manchester Police to inquire about the girl. Salma took the glasses off Andrea who watched confused as Salma pretended to clean the glasses with a hanky and afterwards put them on making sure only to look at Tom.  
And so they were alone after a bit. "What the hell is going on?"  
"I just wanted some time with you alone." He stepped next to her and kissed her deeply.  
Chuckling she hugged him tightly "Why didn't we have that idea earlier?"  
"It was actually Salma's."  
"Perfect." Palming his cock through his pants they shared a French kiss before he grabbed her and sat her onto the desk.  
"Spread your legs, my darling." As she did he freed his semi-hard dick and soon they fucked on his desk. And after a short break they did it again against his bookshelf always making sure that their sex noises didn't get too loud.

About an hour later they switched positions again and soon Salma left waving at her.

Just when she wanted to go over to him to ask him what he wanted for lunch, Damian went past her and slammed his office door in her face hissing "Not now!"  
Startled Tom looked up from his screen to his friend who had a mad gaze on his face. But before he could ask what was wrong Damian spat at him "So, is the cop-bitch the reason you're pulling out of the whole stuff?!"  
"Shh. Quiet, man."  
"Fuck! I don't want to be quiet! I can't believe it!"  
Tom headed over to the door and looked out but luckily she seemed to have gone for lunch.  
"How long has this been going on? And everything because you can't keep your dick in your pants!"  
"How do you even know?!"  
"Well, I was checking the security cameras and what do I have to see but my boss shagging his spying secretary on his office table! How can you do this, Tom? We're on top! We're the people to go to for any sort of drugs. Or better were!"  
"I love her, Damian."  
"Come on! She's a fucking spy!"  
"Yes, and she knows who I am and she loves me nevertheless!"  
"So why can't we keep doing our stuff?"  
"Because I'm sick of hiding, nevermind being afraid every day that they'll come for me. And we've got more money than we can ever spent anyway!"  
"But it's a security for our children and their children."  
"Well, do you think they would want it when they knew where it came from?"  
"I don't care. And they'll never know."  
Tom ran his hand through his hair. "Okay, listen. If you want to keep going, fine. But I'm out and I don't have anything to do with it. If you get caught it's all on you!"  
"Okay, fine."  
"I'll leave the Swiss bank account to you. And only you. You can talk to the two Chrises, if they are still in, it's fine with me but you'll pay them for whatever they do for you. And I don't want to know about anything going on."  
"Sure. But take your money out of the Swiss bank account. If you're out, your money is out as well."  
"Sure. But be careful, they got a hint that we're involved with Jackman.”  
"Did she tell you that?"  
"Yes, actually if she hadn't been, Ben would probably be in prison already. And possibly we too."  
"What?"  
"He wanted to buy some shit and got to the wrong guy obviously. He called the cops and gave them a tip. She told me just in time."  
"Fuck. You're sure she's not setting you up?"  
"Yes. 100 percent."  
"Good. Well, I hope you'll find your happiness with her then."  
"Thanks man." They hugged and Damian left again.

After having a sandwich for very late lunch he changed the owner of their Swiss bank account into Damian alone after transferring 300 million Euros to two different of his own accounts. Now there were still 200 million in it, most of which was still his money but he thought that Damian deserved a fair share of that.   
After that was done Andrea said good-bye for the weekend and he was somehow shocked that it was already 4.30.  
He transferred 50 million to both Chrises and opened his safe to get out the last documents connecting him with any drug dealings. Heading over to Damian's office he handed them to him.  
"So after tonight you're completely out?"  
"Yes. The account is on you and I'll tell Hemsy to tell Jackman tonight that he'll be dealing with only you from now on."  
"Okay. Thanks man."  
"No problem. Good luck and be careful."  
"Sure."

Calling Chris he informed him about the new developement. Then he cleaned up his office and headed upstairs to change before he headed to his car and made his way to Ben's. He would be there a bit early but he'd just play with his godson for a bit.  
He was almost there when his phone rang.

 

***

 

Andrea got home and thought about calling some friends and go to the cinema with them. As no-one picked up she got changed and just when she put on a shirt her doorbell rang. Did Tom stop by before going to Ben's?   
Grinning she opened the door.   
"Hi, Andy. Up for a job?" James stood there smiling back at her.  
"Ahm. Sure. What are we doing?"  
"Tennant needs support for an operation."  
"Okay, sure. How is David?"  
"Good, I'd say."  
"I'll just get my gun. Be right back."  
She ran to her safe and got her gun out before heading back to the door and a few minutes later they sat in James' car.  
"Nothing planned this weekend?"  
"Well, my boyfriend is invited for dinner, so..."  
"And he didn't take you."  
"His sister in law seems to be quite the bitch and he didn't want me to have to endure that."  
"Hmm. Nice of him. Are you happy?"  
"Absolutely."

They made more small-talk until they reached the Docklands and parked next to one of their big vans. Getting out they went over to the van and knocked at the door which immediately was opened.   
"Andrea! What a surprise."  
"Hi, David. Good to see you."  
"Come in guys. Andrea Riseborough and James McAvoy that's my team, Jamie Bell and Tom Hardy."  
They shook hands and David briefed them about the operation. They were sure that there was a big deal going on tonight. One of their sources said weapons, another drugs.   
They would sneak into the warehouse and hide on the first floor on a balcony and as soon as he gave the sign they would interfer.  
They talked a bit and she quickly texted Tom that she wouldn't be home until late probably. No need to tell him she was working as he didn't need to worry about her. Luckily she had saved his number with his second first name as James was watching as she typed.  
"So his name is Bill?"  
"Hmm? What?"  
"Your boyfriend." He gestured to her phone.  
"Yes. He..."   
"Okay guys." David interrupted them "It's getting serious now. Phones in here. Conversation from now on only via headsets. Turn on the bulletproof vest and lets go and nail that bastard Jackman!"  
Her blood froze. Hopefully it wouldn't be Tom's man dealing with him tonight! And she wouldn't be able to call or even text him to warn him. Fuck! The only thing that eased her a bit was the knowledge that Tom was at Ben's having dinner.  
They headed over to a big warehouse and sneaked in through the back door. And after they had searched the upper floor got into position on the balcony above the huge open storage area. There were people running about downstairs but nothing illegal was going on. At least not yet.   
David with his men were on the longer side overlooking the whole thing including the entrance. James and her were on the other side the stairs and an unused office behind them. Cowering they waited and more and more people left and finally a car drove through the big doors and their suspect, Hugh Jackman, got out.  
He talked to his men and finally told them to leave. In the end there were only two left, Jackman himself and an evil looking bull of a man.  
"Everything ready, Dwayne?"  
"Yes, boss."  
"Lets show those idiots how this is done."  
They all looked at each other confused. Her's and James' eyes met and they both shrugged their shoulders, their hands ready to draw their guns at any time and it didn't take long until another car drove into the warehouse.

 

***

 

He saw Ben's name on his screen and raising an eyebrow pressed the button for the hands-free speakerphone.  
"Hi, Ben. What's up?"  
"Listen mate, I just got home and Ben Junior has got high fever. We're on our way to the doctor's. I'm really sorry mate but I have to call off dinner."  
"It's absolutely fine. I hope he'll be better soon."  
"Thanks man. Maybe it will work next week."  
"Oh, don't worry."  
"Thanks mate. See you."

He hung up and turned the car around thinking about heading to Andrea's right away. But then he thought about the two Chrises and he wanted to talk with them in person before they headed off for the deal. He owed it to them. Also he could explain their options to them: Continue to work for him and also in that area but only with Damian or if they wanted to just for him, legally.  
As fast as possible he drove back to the office building because they would leave soon. 

Just as he pulled in to the alley his phone beeped. He parked the car and checked it. It was a message from Andrea:   
-Gone out. Could be a bit later. Meet your at my place. XXX-  
Smiling he nodded to himself. It was good that she kept contact with her friends.   
Grabbing his phone he got out and went over where the two guys just stored the suitcase with the money in the car and checked their guns.  
"Tom, hey. What are you doing here?"  
"I actually wanted to talk to you guys. As you know I'll be out of this after tonight. You can keep working for me as securities only if you want." Both nodded in approval. "Also Damian wants to keep going with this. It's your own free will whether you want to keep doing it or not."  
"Okay. Thanks."  
"I also transferred a little gratification to your accounts today. Just so you know. Everything good?"  
"Yes, Tom."  
"Did you check the place. No cops around there."  
"Nothing. We checked every single camera."  
"Great. Everything okay Chris?" Tom couldn't help but his friend looked a bit uneasy.  
"Yeah, sure. Just the twins are sick."  
"Oh. Well, I've got nothing planned for tonight, so just go home and we'll do this."  
"Really?"  
"Of course, mate."  
"Thanks Tom." They shook hands and hugged. And while Chris left Tom got his Beretta from his glove compartment putting it into the back of his pants hiding it under his jacket.  
Nodding at the other Chris they got into the car and drove to the Docklands.

They waited near the warehouse for a bit checking who was coming or going and when they were sure everything was alright Chris steered the car through the huge delivery doors into the warehouse.   
Jackman and one of his man were standing next to a big crate with their goods. At Tom's sign they both got out, Tom grabbing the suitcase.  
"Hugh. Everything alright?"  
"Tom. Good to see you. Again."  
"Listen I..." He wanted to explain to him who he would be dealing with in the future as Hugh had been quite pissed when he had told him he was out but was interrupted by him immediately.  
"Lets get this shit over with."  
Nodding Tom handed him the suitcase with 3 million Pounds in it and that's when a voice yelled "NOBODY MOVE! POLICE. YOU'RE ARRESTED. HANDS UP TO WHERE WE CAN SEE THEM."  
Shit, Tom thought, he should have known. He looked up and checked the guys up there. Maybe there would be a familiar face who would let him get away. The first two, however, he had never seen. As he turned slowly one of them screamed "Don't move!"  
But he didn't care. The third looked like he had just finished school, then another guy, quite small as it looked and then his heart stopped...

 

***

 

Before the car doors opened Andrea knew whose car it was as Chris had driven them to the little airport a week ago with it. At least Tom wouldn't be here.  
But then the door opened and after Evans had gotten out of the driver side a very familiar face got out on the other side. No! Not him!   
She wanted to scream to warn him but somehow her throat was so dry she couldn't. In shock she watched as Tom and Hugh shook hands and after exchanging some words Tom handed the suitcase he held over to Hugh that was when David interfered and all of them drew their guns pointing them at the four men beneath them.  
Everybody froze only Tom started to turn slowly his hands held up and then he looked at her his jaw dropped as did his right hand.   
From miles away, it seemed, she heard someone yell "Hands up!"  
And then she watched as he drew his gun and pointed it at her. She had disappointed him!  
And then he pulled the trigger.

 

***

 

James watched Andrea's face as Hiddleston got out of the car and every colour seemed to drop from her face. The hand at her gun was slightly shaking and her eyes watered with tears.  
Then David screaming startled him and his full attention went back to the stuff going on below them and like the rest he drew his gun. They all stood with their hands up and Jaime was about to head downstairs when Hiddleston started to turn slowly. He looked at each one of them and finally he looked over at Andrea. That was when he dropped his right hand and for James the time suddenly seemed to move like in slow motion.  
He yelled "Hands up!" And that was exactly what Hiddleston was doing only that he was holding a gun in his right hand now and he was pointing it at Andrea.  
Automatically he pulled the trigger. Two shots one shortly after the other but it was too late as Hiddleston had already pulled the trigger himself.  
He watched as his two bullets hit his chest and painted the front of his white shirt red with blood. His gun dropped to the floor as he fell backwards.  
In horror he finally looked over to Andrea and she was down on her knee cowering, her body turned to the side. That was when he saw that right behind her was another guy lying on the floor, a machine gun in his hand and a bullet whole in his head. Where the hell had he come from?!  
Eventually Andrea's head turned around and when she saw Hiddleston on the ground an ear-piercing scream came from her. She dropped everything and ran to the stairs.  
"Andrea! Stop!"  
The others were moving too, only he and Hardy stayed where they were. Like in trance he watched as Andrea dropped onto her knee next to Hiddleston shaking him lightly and screaming "Tom. Look at me! Please! Tom! Noooo!"


	17. Grief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will Tom be alright?

Andrea kneeled down next to Tom's lifeless body grabbing his hand. "Tom. Look at me! Please! Tom! Noooo!"  
He had saved her life, well, probably all their lives. This wasn't fair!  
"Tom?" She squeezed his hand lightly praying that he would be okay. Tears started to run down her face.  
Did his fingers just move in her hand? A glimmer of hope woke in her. Again his fingers moved lightly, this time she was sure.  
"Tom? Please."  
His mouth slowly opened but everything that came out was a quiet cough followed by a trail of blood running down the side of his mouth. She felt like she was trapped in a nightmare and wanted to scream as loud as possible but she couldn't. After all he could hear her. Then his eyes slowly opened and he looked at her, his eyes glassy.  
"Tom! Hey, my sweety."  
Again he tried to say something but all that came out was a carking.  
"Shhhh! Everything's gonna be fine." She ran her fingers over his cheek soothing him. Out of the corner of her eye she saw James coming over to them yelling something into his micro.  
Tom blinked his eyes slowly and a single tear ran out of his eye. When he opened them again he directly looked at her. "I'm so sorry." Nothing but a hoarse whisper.  
"Don't be sweety. You saved all our lives. Thank you."  
He shook his head almost unnoticably. More blood ran out of his mouth. The front of his shirt was almost completely red by now as well. Then someone was kneeling down beside him but he didn't take his eyes off Andrea.  
"I thought you were out?"  
"I am. And why aren't you at Ben's?"  
"Junior's sick." A silent sound of pain escaped him as James pressed something onto his chest in order to stop the bleedings.  
"Hold out! Meds will be here in a few minutes."  
Again his eyes stayed on Andrea. "Too late."  
"Don't say that, sweety. Just keep looking at me, okay? I'll stay right here."  
"Sorry." With that his eyes closed slowly and with his last strength he mouthed "I love you."  
"TOM! NOOOOOO!"  
She grabbed his hand firmer but there was no reaction. Tears streamed down her face.  
From miles away she heard someone say "Get her away from him" and a moment later James wrapped his arm around her waist from behind tugging her away from the man she loved. Fighting against James' grip she watched as two people kneeled down next to Tom and ripped his shirt open.  
His back against the wall James slowly sank down onto the ground pulling her on his lap trying to soothe her. She was shaking and screaming his name and "no" all over again.  
"Cardiac arrest, get the defi."  
When she heard them say that a deaphening scream escaped her and she once more tried to get to him but James held her tightly.  
"Shhhh. Andy, let them work." Eventually her body grew limp against him and she put her face into his chest not wanting to watch as they electro-shocked him.  
"200! Clear! - Fuck! Come on man! Again. 300. Clear! - He's back! Great. Keep fighting man. Intercostal drainage and intubation. - Lets get him to hospital as fast as possible."

Suddenly everything around them seemed to be quiet and as she lifted her head she just saw how the three men were brought away in handcuffs. Another one came running in with a stretcher. Like in trance she watched as they put Tom onto it, his body connected with numerous tubes and wires. He looked so peaceful.  
"Tom."   
She reached out her hand and tried to get up but she was so exhausted that her knees buckled. James quickly reacted and helped her up.  
"Guys, take agent Riseborough with you to the hospital. I think she has a shock."  
"Sure."   
Grateful she looked James in the eyes but no matter how much she tried to say "thank you" she just could. He guided her over to the ambulance and helped her in. Seconds later they were off speeding to the closest hospital.  
The way to the hospital seemed to take hours although it was barely 10 minutes. The paramedic kept talking into his radio set informing the hospital what to expect.   
She wasn't a doctor herself but from all she heard she knew it was important that they got him to the OR as soon as possible, otherwise...  
Sitting on a small seat she stared at Tom who was so much paler than he normally was. He looked so delicate, almost like a child. This shouldn't be happening. They should be naked in her bed making love, spending time together. Not this! No!  
Once again tears rolled down her already puffy face. Shaking like a leave she stretched out her hand to hold his but she was too far away.  
"Miss? Everything alright?"  
She looked at him blinking her eyes. "Is he going to die?"  
"To be honest, I don't know. But he's a fighter. We do everything we can."  
"Thank you." And then to Tom "I'm right here with you, Tom."  
The paramedic looked at her confused, he thought she had been the one who had shot him. "Is he an agent as well?"  
"No. He's my boyfriend. He shouldn't have been there. He... We should be at home. Save."  
"I'm really sorry, Miss."  
She nodded her head and again focused on Tom.

Finally they reached the hospital and as soon as they stopped the doors were ripped open, a bunch of people waiting for them. They took the stretcher out and rushed into the emergency room. She stayed behind watching like it was a movie on her telly.  
A few minutes later the driver came back to her along with a nurse. Together they unbuckled her seat belt and helped her up and out of the car.   
Putting her in a wheelchair the nurse took her inside talking to her but all Andrea heard was the rushing of her own blood in her ears.

 

She had no idea how long she had been sitting on the hospital bed when the door opened and an older doctor came in.  
"Hello, Miss. How are you feeling?"  
She just shrugged her shoulders and stared ahead of her. The memory of Tom mouthing "I love you" before blacking out haunting her. She should have said it in return! Why hadn't she? What if he died? Could she forgive herself some day?  
"We've given you some Valium to calm you a bit. Can you tell me what happened? Have you shot that man?"  
Shocked she looked at the doctor. "No!"  
Furrowing her brows she looked back at Andrea. "But why are you so under shock then? I mean as an agent you should be used to this."  
Snorting she had a weird grin on her face "How could you be used to your boyfriend being shot after he saved your life?"  
"He's your boyfriend?"  
"Yes. How is he, by the way?" Her eyes were try by now but she felt completely catatonic.  
"We've brought him to the OR. He's lost a lot of blood and his right lung was injured by one of the bullets but he's fighting."  
"That's my Tom." Involuntarily her fingers travelled to the necklace he had bought her on Sunday in Paris.   
"His name is Tom?"  
Confused she looked at the doctor as she nodded.  
Grabbing a pen and a piece of paper she asked "And what's his last name."  
"Hiddleston. Thomas William Hiddleston." And after a short break she added "He's got loads of money, so what ever you have to do, do it!"  
"That's what we are doing anyway. Do you know if he's got any allergies?"  
"No. Not really." She felt so exhausted but she didn't dare to lie down because she didn't want to miss any news about him. "How long will he be in the OR?"  
"A couple of hours probably. Do you mind me asking what your boyfriend was doing at a police operation?"  
"To be honest I don't quite know myself. He was to have dinner at a friend's tonight. Which floor is the OR on?" Somehow she felt the need to be close to him - at least as close as she could.  
"I'll bring you up to their waiting room. Come on."

 

A few hours later she still sat on a chair in the sterile waiting room flinching every time a door would open or footsteps came down the hall but nothing. But this must be good, she thought, that means he's still alive.  
When after another hour there still wasn't anything new the other part of her insisted that Tom was already dead and they just didn't want to tell her. After all she wasn't a family member. Thinking about that it sounded more and more logic and she started to cry again. She hadn't thought she had any tears left but, well, there we go.

 

Eventually the door to the waiting room opened but she didn't register that anymore as she was uncontrolably sobbing at that point. And when somebody wrapped their arm around her she nearly screamed.  
Looking over at that person she was somehow thankful that it was James who hugged her tightly. Slowly she sank her head on his shoulder and allowed him to calm her, at least a bit.   
When her tears had dried temporarily he spoke "How long has this thing between you been going on?"  
"About three weeks." Her voice sounded scratchy and her throat felt sore.  
"Did he know you were working for the other side?"  
"Yes."  
"Did you do it to get information from him?"  
"No." Accusingly she looked over at him "I love him. And he loves me."  
"Yeah. I guess I could see that. He bought you an expensive motorbike?!"  
"Yes." She couldn't help it but smile lightly.  
"Did you tell him about the operation last week?"  
"Yes. But he had nothing to do with that. It was a friend of his. He wanted to stop with the whole shit."  
"What? Dealing drugs?"  
"Yes. Fuck, he shouldn't have been there tonight. He was invited for dinner at a friend's." She remembered Tom's thin voice 'Junior's sick'.  
"Maybe he just told you that to make sure you didn't know anything." Shrugging her shoulders she thought about it and maybe James was right. And if she had known she would have tried to make him stay home. "But if he hadn't been, we all probably would be dead by now. I really thought he wanted to shoot you."  
"So did I for a moment. But then there was something in his eyes screaming get down and without thinking I did. And when I turned there was that dead body. Who was that and where the fuck did he come from?"  
"He was one of Jackman's men. We think Jackman had known we would be there. The guy came through one of the skylights in that office."  
Something dawned on her "What if the guy wasn't there for us in the first place?"  
"What?"  
"Tom had called all of his associates and told them he would be out. He said some weren't happy about that. Maybe the guy was there to kill Tom and Chris."  
"That would explain why there wasn't a single gramm of drugs in the whole building." James tapped his lower lip thinking about it.  
"What?!"  
"Yeah. Nothing, only the briefcase with 3 million Pounds. Do you really believe he wanted to stop."  
"I know it. The other night I was at his place and he distroyed some papers. And when I asked what he was doing he said 'Cleaning up my past.' He's basically a good guy, James. I know you probably won't believe me but he is. He also went through so much shit in his life."  
"Have ou heard anything from the doctors?"  
"No."  
"I'm so sorry, Andrea. If I could turn back time..."  
"Don't worry. I had nearly pulled the trigger myself." No, she hadn't but James didn't need to know that.  
"I'll go and check if there are any news. After all it's been about 9 hours."  
"What?!"  
"It's almost 5 am already. You haven't slept, have you?"  
"No, and I won't. Not until I know that he's going to be okay."  
"I'll be right back."  
"No, please. I want to come with you."  
"Sure, come here." He helped her up and they went over to the reception desk where a nurse was busy. When they were almost there the door to the ORs opened and a young doctor ran out and down the hall, tears running down her face. Andrea's knees buckled, that couldn't be good. Eventually they reached the desk.  
"Excuse me, Miss. Agent James Mcavoy, MI6. A couple of hours ago a man with two shot wounds was brought in. Do you have any information on how he is?"  
"I'll check. One mo..."  
Again the door opened only that this time more people came out rolling a stretcher down the hall. Andrea's eyes widened "Tom!"  
There were even more tubes and wires than the last time she had seen him. There was a constant beeping from the cardio-monitor which meant he was still alive. Once more tears started to run down her face as she slowly moved towards them.  
James hand suddenly was on her shoulder and stopped her. "Let them do their work."  
"But I want to see him." That came out louder and more desperate than she wanted and again her knees went weak. Sobbing she threw her arms around James who was slightly worried about her as normally she always was so tough. Normally.  
"Hello, I'm Doctor Rickman." A dark male voice said. Blinking her eyes she turned a bit and looked at the man in blue OR pyjamas. "You're here because of Mr. Hiddleston?"  
She couldn't speak so she just nodded blinking her tears away.  
"Why don't we sit down for a moment." He gestured over to a small room. Nodding she followed him with James supporting her.  
Almost falling onto one of the chairs she stared expectantly at the medic.  
"How is your relationship with the patient?"  
"He's my boyfriend."  
"I see. Do you know how we can contact his family?"  
"I'm his family." And Salma her mind added.  
"Hmm. I guess it's alright then. Normally I'm only allowed to share the information with the family but I'll make an exception."  
"Thank you, doctor. We appreciate it." James answered for her.  
"One of the bullets went through the right lung hitting a rib. A bone fragment had splittered and cut a whole in it, therefore he lost a lot of blood. But we could fix that. The second bullet we couldn't find for a while actually. Only through x-ray. It was stuck in his spine. It's possible that it hurt his spinal cord but we're not entirely sure yet."  
Furrowing her brows she looked from the doctor to James and back insecure what it was he wanted to say.  
"You mean he could be paralysed?"  
"Yes. If he wakes up."  
Andrea's eyes widened. What was that now supposed to mean? But the doctor continued.  
"His heart stopped a couple of times so we're not sure if he'll recover. At the moment he's stable but that isn't a guarantee. We've sedated him into an artificial coma, so his body can recover."  
"I want to see him" she whispered.  
"Not yet. In about an hour when we've set up everything on the ICU. Okay?"  
"Thank you." James answered while she nodded. It almost felt like she had been shot now by his words. What did it mean? 

They sat in silence for a while with Andrea embraced by James. Thoughts were spinning in her head: if he survived he'd possibly be paralysed and go to prison or he died and she'd be alone. But prison? Hang on a second!  
"Did you say there were no drugs whatsoever?"  
"Yes."  
"So we don't have any proof to arrest him?"  
"Nothing. David is questioning the guys while two other groups are searching Jackman's and Hiddleston's premises. But it looks like we'll have to let them all go."  
"He won't go to prison?"  
"No, Andrea." Well, maybe he would as Jackman had apparently offered a co-operation but she was worried enough right now and as he understood the doctor, chances were still up he wouldn't survive although that would totally break Andy's heart.  
"Have you told anybody else about us?"  
"No. And I won't. As I don't think it would be a good idea. To be honest I am still pretty sure he was just using you."  
"No, James. He wasn't. Just believe me, please."

Again they were silent and Andrea was just about to fall asleep when the door opened again and a nurse came in. She shot straight up expecting the worst but the nurse just said she'd bring her to Tom now if she still wanted.  
Eagerly nodding she stood up and followed the young nurse. She turned on the sterile gown she was handed and finally she was led into the ICU.   
Tom looked like he was peacefully sleeping, only he had never slept on his back and the tube coming out of his mouth with all the devices linked to his body disturbed this image. The sounds coming from all the devices first sent goosebumps down her spine but as she realised that the constant beeping of one of the machines was his heart beat she found it a bit soothing actually.   
Exhausted she fell on the chair standing next to his bed. With her last strength she reached for his hand and as their skin touched she closed her eyes and soon was fast asleep.

 

When she woke again she was lying in a hospital bed and James was sitting in the corner. Seeing her blink her eyes he smiled "Good evening, Andy."  
Yawning and stretching she looked at him confused. "What time is it?"  
"5.38 pm."  
"What?!" She quickly sat up and wanted to get up. "How is Tom?"  
"Half an hour ago I talked to the doctor and he said he was doing better."  
"Thank God."  
"Andy, I thought I should give you this."  
Furrowing her brows she looked at the mobile James was holding towards her.   
"The nurse gave it to me this morning along with some other stuff. I thought it would be a bad idea to hand it in."  
Last Monday came back to her mind and the pic he had taken. Blushing she took it from James "Have you checked it?"  
"No. I thought it was better not to. And we've both never seen it, just to be clear. He didn't have a phone on him."  
"Thank you, James."

For a few moments she stared at the dark screen then Salma's words came to her mind "He's like a brother for me". Maybe she should call her.   
The decision was quickly made, she unlocked his phone (she had watched him a couple of times) and searched for her number. To call her she used her own phone and after three rings she picked up.  
"Hello?"  
"Hi Salma. It's Andrea."  
"Andy, hi. So you're up for the threesome, now?" She said jokingly.  
Andrea swallowed hard and felt tears run down her face again. "Nothing I'd rather do right now, but something happened. Tom got...shot in the...chest...last...n...night." She pressed out between sobs.  
"What?! Where is he? Is he alright?"  
"He's...in hospital. I...actually don't...quite know...which one." She hadn't cared until now. "For the...moment he is...okay but...the doctors...don't know...really. He's...in...c...coma."  
"Dios! Find out where you are exactly, please, and call me or text me."  
"Okay." She had gotten up and looked around and it didn't take long for her to find a sign with the hospital's name on it. "We're in St. Kathrine's."  
"I'll be right over."  
"But I'm not sure if they'll let you in."  
"They have to!" With that she hung up. 

She had no idea in which part of the hospital she was and James had vanished. Finally a nurse crossed her way and she asked for directions to the ICU.  
It happened to be just one floor up and a few moments later she was putting on one of those gowns again when she saw Tom's phone was receiving a call. Ben.  
Should she pick up? Well, after all she knew they were friends, so probably she should talk to him.  
"Hello."  
"Hi. Who is this?"  
"It's Andrea. Tom's..." She almost said girlfriend, however, she didn't know whether Tom had told him. But before she could continue, Ben spoke.  
"His secretary? Are you working on Saturday evening?"  
So he didn't know. "No. Tom has been...injured last night."  
"What? Where is he? What did you do to him?"  
Where did the sudden hostility come from? "He's in hospital. ICU. And I didn't do anything."  
"ICU? What happened?"  
"He was doing business with Jackman. We, I work for MI6, we were on Jackman. Just when we intervened everything, and told them not to move, Tom drew his gun and shot one of Jackman's men. But my colleague thought he would shoot me so he fired at him." Tears were falling again and her voice had broken half way through her explanation.  
"What?! But why do you have his phone? And why are you crying? What's going on?"  
She could literally see Ben's face before her trying to figure everything out. "We've been seeing each other for a while."  
"What? You and Tom?! But he knew you were a cop?! What did you pull him into?!"  
His voice sounded disgusted and she somehow felt anger building in her now. "He shouldn't have been there in the first place! He was supposed to be at yours!" She snarled at him.  
Puzzled he was sure now that she had said the truth, otherwise she wouldn't know about any of this. "Yes. But Ben Junior got sick. He caught some virus. How is Tom?"  
"Well, he's tough. He's in coma but stable for the moment. At least the doctors say so."  
"Oh, God!" It got silent for a moment and she almost wanted to ask if he was still there as he spoke again. "Have you told him about that operation last Saturday?"  
"I don't know what you are talking about." It didn't sound very convincing.  
"Thank you."  
"Could you do me a favour and inform the others as well. I just can't. But maybe they know already anyway. Oh, and no word about me."  
"Okay."  
"Good. I've gotta go. Bye."  
"Bye."

After they had hung up she pulled the phones in her pockets and finished getting changed. She headed down the hall and entered Tom's room. Surprised she saw James sitting next to him smiling as he saw her. He quickly got up and offered her the only chair in the room.  
"Thank you."  
"I'll be outside if you need anything."  
"Okay. Oh, James. A woman will show up soon. Salma. They are really close. Maybe she could come in for a bit as well."  
"No way. First the doctors won't allow it and second if we do and right then some other agent shows up, he'll start to ask questions and your relationship will be revealed. So, no way."  
"Then at least tell her that he's okay."  
"Sure."

A moment later he was gone and she finally could concentrate on Tom.  
He looked way better than the day before but still rather pale. A blood bottle was connected to his right arm and a infusion (probably saline) stuck in his left arm.   
The thick tube in his mouth was also still there and somehow that disconcerted her the most, however, she had no idea why.  
A thin sheet covered his body and she was wondering if he wouldn't be cold like that. Reaching out she grabbed his fingers and yes, they were rather cold.  
"Are you freezing, sweety? - I'll get you a warmer blanket. I'll be right back."  
She headed out of the door and nearly ran into a nurse.  
"Oh, sorry. Ahm, can I get some warmer stuff for him, he's rather cold."  
"I'm afraid Miss that's not possible. We have to be able to have quick access to our patients' bodies at any time. But we can turn up the room temperature a bit."  
"Okay. Thanks."  
From the corner of her eye Andrea saw the young female doctor, who had run from the OR the previous night... no, actually, in the morning. She was standing in a door frame watching her. There was something familiar about that woman but Andrea couldn't pinpoint it. 

She sat back down next to Tom holding his hand watching the monitor showing his heart beat. It felt good to see it was steady, a bit slow maybe but steady.  
"I'm right here with you, sweety. I won't leave you. You're being so strong for us. I'm so proud of you."  
She kept talking to him for hours, always holding his hand and eventually fell asleep in her chair.


	18. Old Stories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Andrea unexpectedly meets someone from Tom's past

It had been two weeks and there wasn't really a notable improvement in his health- at least not for Andrea. He was still in coma connected to all those machines. And according to the doctors, he would be like that for at least two more weeks.  
Andrea spent almost the whole day at his side, even slept in the small chair. She only went home to shower and change clothes. While she did that James stayed with him.

 

After they hadn't found anything connecting him with drugs in his office or computer he was off the hook for now. But it looked like Jackman was prepared to cooperate with the MI6 and give them a list of customers with proof of the nature of the transactions. In return he wanted exemption from punishment as he only was the middle man between the final buyer and several drug barons.  
Michael was on that as well and informed them regularly.  
A couple of days ago he had shown up in Tom's hospital room where James and Andrea were sitting and talking about what would happen next.  
"Hi, guys. Hi, asshole." Andrea flinched and nearly screamed at Michael but James chastised him already.  
"Mike, please! Had he not been, we'd be dead now."  
"Alright, alright. Although I don't quite understand why he shot that guy in the first place. I mean they would have gotten away if he hadn't shot that prick. And why on Earth are you still here. Officially he isn't under arrest anymore and, let’s be honest, he won't run away."  
Andrea felt the panic building in her. Of course it would only be a matter of time until she got found out.  
"We've learned from one of his men that he wanted to pull out of the whole drug thing and we are pretty sure that the gunman was actually there for him, not for us."  
"So you're protecting him?"  
"Exactly."  
She took a relieved breath and wordlessly thanked James. They talked for a bit about what to think of Jackman's suggestion when a nurse came in hissing at them "Three people in here are definitely too much. He might be in coma but he needs his rest nevertheless."  
James stood up and led Michael out leaving Andrea alone with him.

 

Often she fell asleep holding his hand and when she woke they always had pushed her chair into the corner, that day wasn't different. She slowly blinked her eyes and looked over at Tom.  
The young doctor was standing over him cleaning the wound where they had opened his chest. Andrea hadn't seen it until now and was shocked. It went down all the way over his chest. The bandage was changed as well and when she was finished she tugged the sheet back over his body. But to Andrea's surprise she didn't leave right away. For a moment the doctor just stood there and stared down at Tom, a single tear running down her face. What was going on? Who was she?

Andrea shifted in her chair and the young woman quickly wiped the tear away.  
"Good morning." Andrea got up slowly and stretched a bit. Sleeping in that chair wasn't the best idea after all.  
"Good morning, Miss."  
"How is he?" She went over to the bed and red the doctor's name tag: E. Johnston MD.  
"Still the same." There was something sad in her voice but Andrea couldn't say what.  
"Do you know him?"  
"What?"  
"Or do you cry over all your patients?"  
"No. Of course not. Can I ask you something?"  
Furrowing her brows she eventually nodded.  
"I know you are a MI6 agent and officially that's the reason you're here, but that's not all, is it? You love him."  
"What?" Shocked she stared at the woman. Was it that obvious?  
"I've been watching you. You hold his hand you talk to him. You are a couple, right?"  
"That's none of your business."  
She slowly nodded and her eyes watered again "I haven't seen him for about 17 years and then, after hours of operating on a severely injured man, they pull the sheet away hiding his face and you see that the man, who had to be revived three times, is your fucking brother!" She was full on crying now.  
Andrea's jaw dropped and she stared at her.  
"First I wasn't sure but then..." She ran her thumb over the scar on his upper lip. "I'm Ella by the way."  
"Andrea." Speechless she looked at the woman, still not believing what she had just said.  
"He had... vanished from one... day to the other and now..." She was sobbing while her fingers still stroked over his face. Andrea took her hand in hers and squeezed lightly looking over to the chair. They walked over there and Ella sat down while Andrea got her chair from the corner and finally sat down facing her.  
"Is he a good guy?"  
"Yes. Lovely."  
"Good. I thought he would be."  
"You said he vanished. What happened?"  
"Well, our parents wanted to pick him up from that horrible boarding school the next day after the end of the year, a Saturday. They had tickets for the opera Friday, so they didn't want to go although they would have had more time than enough. I was out with some friends and when I got home Saturday morning there was a call on the answering machine. Mum and dad were having breakfast and were talking about the opera. I pressed play and it was Tom saying 'Don't bother picking me up. I took the train to Cambridge.' That was it. Nothing else.  
I knew he wasn't on good terms with my parents but we've always been close. So I grabbed my phone and called him. It didn't even ring. I tried for several days. Our parents were angry but somehow also seemed relieved in a way. I don’t know, as if they were happy to be rid of him.  
I even went to Cambridge with mum, took me a while to convince her. We searched the whole bloody town but no sign of him. Eventually we gave up and went home. I even sent letters to the university asking them to pass them on but nothing came back.  
Then about two years ago there was this article about what had been going on at that boarding school and mum hired a private detective to find Tom.  
About six weeks ago she called me and told me she had found him. But he wouldn't want to talk to her. Well, can't blame him really.  
How long have you been together?"  
"Not so long."  
"I wi..."  
"Doctor Johnston, we need you." A nurse came in looking at them.  
"Okay" and then to Andrea "I'll come back."  
Andrea nodded and as she was gone she grabbed Tom's hand. "Did you hear that? Your sister is a doctor."

About three hours later Ella came back, no longer dressed in her doctor's clothes.  
"I'm finished for today." She explained unasked.  
They sat down one at each of Tom's sides holding his hands.

  
  _"He's always been up for mischief playing pranks on everybody and thus got into a lot of trouble. There wasn't a week where he didn't have detention._  
 _There was an old bitch teaching English at our school. Nobody liked her. She was a heavy smoker, she sometimes even smoked in the classrooms. With the window open, but still..._  
 _One morning I went into Tom's room to get him for breakfast. He had a pack of cigarettes on his table which he quickly hid. But when he saw it was just me he continued filling some stuff in one of the cigarettes. I asked him what he was doing and he just smirked and said it was a surprise for Miss Hansley._  
 _Tom's classroom was one floor up from mine and like in the fourth lesson that day there was, well, a little explosion. She never knew who had done it._  
 _But often he got caught or they just assumed it was him._  
 _At the end of the year before mum and dad sent him to Harrington he and some friends wrapped the maths teacher’s car in toilet paper and got caught. That guy had absolutely no sense of humour and called in all their parents, mothers and fathers._  
 _Our dad was furious and as soon as we were home he slapped Tom across the face screaming at him. He had detention for the last two school weeks of the school year and he had to stay in his room when he got home, was only allowed to leave it for the meals and school. And in the summer holidays he had to as well. Or at least dad wanted that but he was at work most of the time anyway. Mum at least allowed him to come downstairs and watch telly or play video games._  
 _Also he played the occasional prank on me or our sister, Laura._  
 _She always had to be the first one in the bathroom and when we got in the water had gone pretty cold normally. Tom was always fighting with her about it. That one day was no different and as usual she went first. But Tom wasn't angry at all, not as usually anyway. He just came towards me grinning and winking. We went down to have breakfast and just when we sat down there was a deafening scream from our sister. Our parents immediately ran upstairs while Tom chuckled over his breakfast._  
 _Somehow he had put paint into the shower head, I don't know how. So when she came into the kitchen both of us broke down laughing. She looked like a smurf, all blue._  
 _Of course Tom got punished for it but he said it was definitely worth it."_

 

Both women laughed for a bit, Andrea imagining the poor girl when she realized what was going on.  
For a moment they were silent and they just looked at the peaceful looking Tom. The sun came out a bit and painted the room in bright gold light. Suddenly Ella's face changed from a grin to a somehow sad expression.

"You know how he got that scar."  
In the bright sun light it was clearly visible were the skin on his upper lip had obviously been broken once. "He said a fight."  
"Well, you could say that but...

  
  _It was the summer holidays the same year before he went to boarding school and dad had forbidden Tom to leave his room at all, as I've mentioned earlier. It was already three weeks in the holidays and Tom and I were having breakfast. It was a lovely day and Laura would have some friends over for camp in the garden. They arrived just as we finished and as usually Laura started teasing and insulting Tom in front of them. He just ignored them and headed to his room._  
 _After lunch the girls tried to put up our big tent in the garden but couldn't handle it. So Laura came in begging mum if she couldn't help or tell Tom to help them._  
 _We were playing Super Mario in the living room as mum came up to us and asked "Thomas, darling. Would you please help your sister to put up that horrible thing? I've got no idea how that works."_  
 _"But I'm not allowed to leave the house."_  
 _"Please, darling. I'm sure your father would approve. Please, darling."_  
 _He rolled his eyes and gave in as he usually did when mum asked something of him. We finished the level and he went out._  
 _First they helped him a bit but mostly sat around and teased him asking him if he was a sheep or maybe a poodle. You know, he had blonde curls all over._  
 _Eventually they left for the shopping centre giggling about him and he finished alone._  
 _When he was done he went in and drank something before he wanted to head back upstairs to his room. Mum thanked him for his help and suggested he could play football outside a bit or something. He only had to make sure he was in when dad came home._  
 _Of course he took the opportunity and went outside._  
 _As it was time for dinner mum told me to get him but he was nowhere to be found in the garden. Soon I saw him at the shore of a near-by creek and I ran over to him._  
 _He was crouching in the long grass and was just catching a ugly looking toad._  
 _"What are you doing?"_  
 _"Have you ever heard about the fairy-tale the Frog King?"_  
 _"Yes," I answered reluctantly while he put the toad into a bucket where he already had three frogs in it._  
 _Putting a wooden board on top he winked at me and I began to understand slowly, I was only eight then._  
 _"One more. We've got five princesses, so we need five frogs. Do you want to try?"_  
 _He showed me how to do it and it didn't take long until we had another frog._  
 _Content he walked back to the garden with me where I went back inside while he disposed the frogs in the tent._  
 _Mum's eyes almost popped out when she saw him come in. Is shirt and shorts were covered in mud and she was angry as he was wearing a new t-shirt but eventually nodded it off. After all he was just a boy. So she told him to clean himself up and get changed for dinner._  
 _Just when we had sat down for dinner dad came home. He kissed mum before he went to the bathroom to wash his hands and change into more comfortable clothes._  
 _It didn't take long and he came back, his face all red in anger. Tom was just eating when he grabbed his shoulder and turned him around. He slapped him hard across the face yelling at him "I've told you to stay in your room and what do you do!"_  
 _Mum interfered and told him that she had allowed it because he had put up the tent for Laura and her friends but he wouldn't have it. "No reason to ruin the new clothes we've bought you from our money! My dad would have killed me if I did that with new clothes, you ungrateful, spoiled boy! Go to your room!"_  
 _Tom looked over at mum; after all he hadn't eaten much all day and probably was starving. Before mum could say anything, however, dad screamed "NOW!"_  
 _"Please, he's..." Mum tried to calm him._  
 _"No. You are way too soft with him. No wonder he's like that. What that boy needs is a firm hand and a beating every day!"_  
 _Tom pushed his chair back so that it nearly fell over and ran to his room, tears welling up in his eyes._  
 _After dinner I snatched a banana, hid it under my shirt and ran upstairs to his room. He was curled up on his bed crying._  
 _"Look what I've got for you," I said and as he saw the banana a thin smile spread on his face. He quickly ate it and we played with his Legos until it was getting dark._  
 _Eventually mum came in and sent us to bed while our sister and her friends were still laughing and talking downstairs._  
 _We went to bed and I had already been asleep when I heard loud screams from outside. I giggled as I imagined the girls getting into the tent and finding their disguised princes. There was some talking going on and I could hear dad saying something and a few minutes later his heavy footsteps were coming upstairs. I heard him yelling "YOU LITTLE SHIT! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN THAT LITTLE BRAIN OF YOURS!" accompanied with four loud slaps and Tom wincing in pain._  
 _After he had slammed the door to Tom's room shut and went downstairs, I sneaked out of my room. I was somehow terrified, I mean I was eight, right!_  
 _I knocked on Tom's door but he didn't answer. I went inside nevertheless. He was curled up in his bed again his face buried in his pillow sobbing and crying. I went over to him and stroked his hair. "Are you okay, Tom?"_  
 _"Go back to bed." He whispered and looked up at me. I still remember how shocked I was. His face was swollen and blood was running down over his mouth._  
 _"I'll get mum." I said and turned and I heard him say "no" but I went downstairs nonetheless._  
 _She was in the kitchen making hot chocolate for Laura and her friends after that shock. I went over to her and tugged on her dress._  
 _"Oh, darling. Did we wake you?"_  
 _"Please, mum, you have to come. Tom is bleeding."_  
 _"He's what?!" She immediately turned off the oven and practically ran upstairs._  
 _When I got up as well she sat on Tom's bed grabbing his face and looking at him "Oh, darling look at your sheets," was all she said for a moment._  
 _"Sorry," he cried._  
 _"It's alright, darling. I'll just get the first aid kid. And you young lady go back to bed."_  
 _She brought me to bed but I couldn't sleep. When everything was quiet again I went over to Tom's room. He was still crying and I cuddled into bed with him. To soothe him I told him my favourite fairy-tale and in the end we both fell asleep._  
 _In the morning I woke first and in the light of day he looked even worse. He had two black eyes, his lip was swollen and so was his face._

_"You might say our parents were horrible and in retrospective I think they were, at least for him. To Laura and me, however, they always were good and never even once raised their hand. And I don't know why because we also pulled some shit occasionally."_   
_Andrea was crying, no wonder he had such a sad look on his face when she had asked him about the scar. He never had it easy that was for sure._   
_"And you wonder why he burned all the bridges behind him?"_   
_"Well, I certainly understand about mum and dad. But we have always been close. Even when he was at boarding school. We would text about every second day and at least talk once a week. Well, at first anyway._   
_You know what mum and dad did after he had been at that school for about four weeks? They cleared out his room and turned it into a guest room. All his stuff was put in crates and stored in the basement._   
_I hadn't seen him for months when dad brought him home for the Christmas holidays. I couldn't believe how he had changed._   
_Normally he always had a slight grin on his face. Always. But it had vanished. He looked like a ghost in a way and knowing what probably had happened to him by then, it's no wonder._   
_I ran up to him and hugged him and he flinched, he tried to get away from me. Same with mum. And no matter how often mum claims that she didn't notice, I don't believe her. It was like he was a totally different person._   
_Anyway, we had dinner and all he said was 'yes' and 'no' or if that wasn't possible he answered as short as possible._   
_When we were finished he headed upstairs. Mum saw it and followed him and me after her._   
_By the time she reached him he already stood in the door frame to what had been his room._   
_"We've made a guest room out of it, darling. Don't worry your stuff is in the basement. Normally you could sleep in here but as your grandparents come tomorrow we put up a little bed for you in dad's office."_   
_He just nodded, turned and walked back downstairs. I expected him to be angry but he just went downstairs into the basement and staid down there reading a book._   
_Eventually mum went down looking what he was doing and when she saw him sitting in the cold on the floor she started shouting at him. "Are you crazy?! Sitting in the cold! Do you want to get sick?"_   
_Moments later he came upstairs with mum, he was actually shaking. She made him a tea and wrapped a blanket around him._   
_I went up to him telling him we could share my room if he wanted but he only shook his head. It was only 8 pm when he changed into his pyjamas and went to bed._   
_Hours later, I think it was already past midnight, I couldn't sleep and went downstairs. There was light coming from dad's office so I went over there and after knocking went in. He was sitting curled up in the corner reading one of dad's books. I don't remember what it was but it was way too violent for a child. I could see he had been crying and when he saw me he just hissed at me "Go back to bed!"_   
_"Can't sleep. I thought we could play something."_   
_"No. Leave me alone."_   
_I didn't know what was going on but I knew that wasn't my brother anymore. I remember asking mum what was wrong with him the next morning. She only shrugged her shoulders and dad was like "Finally someone managed to get some sense into the boy."_   
_And even when it came out that the boys had been abused at that horrible place he just said "Didn't do him any harm. After all he finished as one of the year's best and got a scholarship for Cambridge where he again was one of the best."_

  
Mum and dad got divorced a couple of years ago, maybe they should have done that earlier.  
Shortly after that article was out I asked mum whether she never realised anything and she claimed no. But to be honest I don't think it's the truth."  
Andrea nodded remembering her meeting with the older woman. She had looked guilty in a way and wanting to make up for a mistake. But she should have felt like that 20 years ago, not now.  
"Does he work for the MI6 as well, or why are you guys here?"  
"That's complicated."  
"I've got time."  
"I'm not sure if I'm allowed to tell you. Besides I think it wouldn't be such a good idea."

For a while they just sat there each still holding one of his hands until Ella broke the silence again. "Please tell me he's his old cheerful self. Joking and smiling and not quiet and serious."  
Andrea smiled and nodded "Well, he's quite the tease. And when he smiles he could melt the whole damn North pole. He's very charming and generous. I was geeking about a motorbike, a couple of days later it stood in my parking spot with a huge ribbon around it.  
I don't know how he does it after all that happened to him but he's a great human being and everyone who knows him likes him."  
"That's great. Has he talked about any of that with you?"  
"No. He said he can't. And I understand that."  
Ella lifted his left hand turning it lightly, so that the long scar became visible. "Do you know about this?"  
Nodding she said "Actually your mum told me."  
"Mum? What?! How does she know?!"  
Furrowing her brows Andrea wasn't sure if she should continue. But she also thought Ella deserved the truth "I've met with her after she had shown up at the office. I thought maybe I could bring them back together.  
You know, family is very important to me, so I thought... But soon I understood why he had done what he did."  
"You are the secretary? She's told me about you! And she really told you about this?" She motioned her head towards his wrist.  
"Yes. Didn't they tell you?"  
"No. I actually read it a couple of days ago in his patient's file. Do you know why he did it?"  
"He caught the girl he wanted to marry with another guy."  
"Damn. I still can't believe mum knew about it!"  
"The police and the hospital had called them."  
"And they didn't care!"  
"Well, as I understood it your mum did but your dad didn't really."  
"Of course he didn't."  
"What the hell is going on here?" A familiar voice said from behind them and as Andrea turned she stared into Michael's shocked face. James was right behind him looking equally shocked although probably for a different reason.

Andrea fought the instinct to let go of Tom's hand and looked over to James for help.  
"He's my brother!" Ella proclaimed obviously thinking it was meant for her.  
"What?!" James and Michael asked simultaneously.  
They all burst out speaking at the same time and were interrupted by the chief physician of the ICU who threw them all out.  
Dumbfounded they looked at each other as he closed the door behind them.  
Shaking her head Ella said good-bye to them and left. Andrea looked after her with a smile on her face but as she turned and faced Michael it vanished.  
Before he could start screaming, however, James led them over to the empty waiting room.  
"Michael, listen: we've been keeping it secret for a rea..."  
"You knew about this?!"  
"Well, yes. It was obvious when I saw how she reacted when he was shot."  
"How long has this been going? You've fucking crossed us, haven't you? He's flirting with you, fucking you and God knows what else and you blow our operation! Just for a shag! How stupid are you?!"  
Andrea was crying as James stood between them trying to calm Michael. "Mate, please."  
"He's a fucking drug dealer, murderer and whatever else and you spread your legs for that scumbag! Fucking slut!"  
"Michael!"  
She was furious as she brushed past James. "You say he's a scumbag?! He would never treat me like that. Never mind how angry he would be. Never. He's a better man than you'll ever be.  
He might have done some bad things but compared to the bad shit that has happened to him it's nothing! SO SHUT THE FUCK UP!"  
She stormed out and headed back to her lover wishing ever more that he would be there to comfort her.

Crying she sat in her chair at his side until the sun slowly set. Eventually a nurse came in to take care of him.  
Usually she sat in the corner or waited outside as the nurses washed and shaved him but that day she suddenly found herself asking if she could help.  
A few moments later she was shaving Tom's light stubble away. He looked so fragile as he was lying there.

Every day the nurses came in she helped them a bit more and also Ella would be there every day for at least an hour, tell her about herself and some childhood stories, some happy and some sad.  
One was particularly grabbing:

   
  _Tom was 15 and it was the summer holidays. Most of the time he spent sitting in his room reading one book after the other. He wasn't talking much, not even to Ella._  
 _Their parents wanted to go on holidays for a week while the kids stayed with their uncle and aunt like every summer._  
 _It had been three weeks into the break and the family was sitting at the dining table. Ella had been late as she was at a friend's to play. She came in and apologised for being late. They were nearly finished already as she sat down on her usual spot. She looked over to where her brother normally sat but he wasn't there. There wasn't even a dish or any sign that he had ever been there._  
 _Furrowing her brows she asked "Where is Tom?"_  
 _And she saw the horror in her mother's face. "Tom! Oh my God!" She quickly jumped up and ran upstairs to get him. When she entered his room he was sitting at the window, like usually, curled up and totally lost in his book._  
 _A few moments later they were coming down together with their mother apologising over and over that they had forgotten him. He didn't say a word, however, just sat down where Ella had put his plate. He picked a bit in his food before cleaning his spot and going back upstairs, all the time fighting his tears as the conversation went on around him._  
 _Nobody noticed. Nobody but his little sister. She also had noticed in the last few weeks that he was barely eating anything and his trousers and shirts were hanging loosely on him._  
 _While the rest of the family was watching a movie she headed upstairs to her brother's, well, the guest room and checked on him. He was lying beneath the covers crying heavily._  
 _It broke her heart to see him like that, although she didn't 100 percent understand why. She was only 10 after all. The only thing she knew was that instead of her, their parents should have been here to take care of him._  
 _Dragging herself up onto the huge bed she stroked through his curly hair which set off another wave of tears. She tried to soothe him as well as she could and after a while he slowly calmed a bit. Finally he lifted his swollen face and whispered hoarsely "They wouldn't even realise if I wasn't here anymore."_  
 _"I would!" Ella reciprocated._  
 _"Thanks. Would you leave me alone now, please."_  
 _Reluctantly she nodded and left wishing him a good night._

_Tom waited in his bed until well past midnight, his thoughts spinning whether he should just leave or go to the station and throw himself in front of a train. Soon he discard the second option though as he didn't want to traumatise some poor train driver._   
_So he got up and packed some of his stuff into a bag. He would go to Scotland to his grandparents. They had always been there for him, they even wrote him a letter every week. At least something he could look forward to._   
_He knew the first train was leaving at 4.30 am so he left the house at 4 heading to the station. He had saved some money and bought a ticket to London from there he had to make his way north._   
_His savings probably wouldn't get him all the way but he had time so he could walk or even hitch hike. But first he had to get a safe distance between him and his so-called parents. Fuck them!_   
_The train left right on time and an hour later he arrived at Paddington station in London. He checked how much a ticket to Glasgow would be (on a ticket machine of course) and as he had suspected he didn't have enough money to go all the way. So he bought a ticket to York , which wasn't on the direct way though, and from there he would see. Maybe his chances were better if he took a little detour._   
_He took the tube to get to Kings Cross station to take the other train. He would be on his way north when they finally noticed, if they did at all, that he was missing. He had stuffed some pillows and shit under his blanket so it wasn't obvious right away, that probably would get him about half an hour more._   
_For the first time in about two years he felt good, like himself as he watched the scenery pass by. When the conductor checked his ticket he started asking questions: where are you going, where are your parents, etc._   
_Luckily he always had a good ear for accents and told him in a thick York accent that he was on his way home from visiting a friend in London. Finally the guy was convinced and left him alone._   
_In the early afternoon he finally arrived in York, his stomach angrily growling at him. He had totally forgotten to buy something to eat or drink but lately he didn't feel like eating anyway. He had 20 Pounds left and so he bought some water and a sandwich which he greedily swallowed almost in one piece. Checking his clock he was sure that by now his absence had been noticed, if not by his parents then by Ella. As far as he was concerned she was the only family he had apart from his grandparents. Would they call his dad when he arrived there? Doubts came creeping on him and he wasn't longer sure that this had been a good idea. But there was no way back!_   
_He checked a map in front of the station and took a bus that would bring him close to the main road where he could try and hitch hike._   
_It was getting dark already when still nobody had taken him with him but it was okay. It was dry and quite warm so he kept walking north._   
_Eventually he felt totally exhausted and lay down beneath a big oak tree where over 24 hours without sleep took their toll and he fell asleep almost instantly._

_Drenched in sweat he woke the next morning after a nightmare. He emptied the first of three water bottles and, ignoring his rumbling stomach, continued his walk._   
_This time it didn't take long and a young woman stopped. "Hey, where are you going?"_   
_"Only to the next village to visit my gran." He said in his best York accent._   
_"Why don't you jump in? It's still about five miles."_   
_"No. I'm fine. Thanks."_   
_"Why aren't your parents driving you?"_   
_"They're too busy."_   
_"Come on, get in!"_   
_"I don't know you. Who says you won't slice me in pieces if I do."_   
_She raised her brow and only now he saw that there was a baby in the back seat._   
_"But I don't want you to cause you any trouble ma'am."_   
_"You don't. And now get in."_   
_"Okay. Fine."_   
_For a bit they were silent but she wouldn't let him go so easily. "What's your name?"_   
_"Bill."_   
_"I'm Molly and that back there is Cindy. Where does your gran live?"_   
_"Near the graveyard." He knew this question was coming and had already prepared his answer._

_It didn't take long and they were there._   
_He saw an old woman work in her garden and he quickly said "There it is!"_   
_She stopped and he got out. But she didn't take off immediately she watched him. Damn! On a sudden impulse he waved at the old woman and to his luck she waved back at him. This seemed to be enough proof for her and she sped off. Once she was out of sight he walked back to the main road and continued his journey._   
_Overnight he stayed in an old stable outside a tiny village and on a close-by apple tree he even found some food. Cuddled up in some hay he fell asleep and slept till the next morning._

_His luck ended when he woke with a scream from another nightmare. Confused about where he was he blinked his eyes, only to see a grey-haired farmer stand before him._   
_"What are you doing here boy?"_   
_"Nothing. I'm off anyway." Grabbing his stuff he got to his feet and wanted to leave but the old man gripped his arm._   
_"You've run away, haven't you?"_   
_"None of your business. Sir. And now let me go."_   
_"Son, running away isn't an option really. Believe me."_   
_"What do you know?!" He shouted and ripped his arm from the guy’s firm grip. Tears were falling down his face as he ran as quickly as he could._   
_Half an hour later a police car pulled up next to him. He was fucked!_   
_The officers asked him for an ID and as he couldn't show them one they told him to get in. But he wouldn't give up just yet, so he spun around and ran as fast as he could. Normally he was quite fast but without having eaten much he didn't stand a chance and soon they caught him._   
_They brought him back to the police station where they asked him again for his name and his parents' phone number. But he stayed quiet and soon the officer left._   
_About 15 minutes a female officer came in with a sandwich, some cookies and something to drink._   
_"You ran three days ago from Oxford, Tom?" Shit! Apparently his not-parents had called the police. "You must be starving?" She pushed the sandwich closer to him but stubbornly he shook his head. "Listen Tom, I don't know what happened between you and your parents but there's nothing that can't be solved."_   
_"They don't fucking even want me anymore!" He started to cry as he yelled at her. She had no idea. Nobody had!_   
_"I've just talked to your mum and she was really worried."_   
_"About that she won't get a refund for her missed holidays probably! It's a wonder they didn't go nonetheless!"_   
_"Eat something and rest a bit. They'll be here in a couple of hours to pick you up."_   
_"What if I don't want to go with them?"_   
_Puzzled she stared at the still crying boy. "Well, but they are you're parents."_   
_"When they sent me away to boarding school they turned my room into a guest room! They don't want me! They even forgot to get me for dinner the other day! Those are no parents!"_   
_She was speechless for a moment and finally said "Rest. I'll see you in a bit." With that she left him knowingly locking the door behind her._   
_Tom was so angry he took the bottle and through it across the room at the door where it burst. He wanted to do the same thing with the sandwich but his stomach protested so instead he sat down on the small bed in the corner curling his long aching legs up and ate it._   
_By the time his parents arrived he was fast asleep, still in the sitting position, his head resting on his knees._   
_The officer stood with them in front of the one-way mirror looking into the cell where they had put him._   
_"He said you didn't want him anymore anyway. That's why he ran away."_   
_"That ungrateful, little shit! I'm paying thousands of Pounds for his education and..."_   
_"Mr. Hiddleston, he's still a child. And as such needs care and love. If you want him to go to a boarding school, fine. But make him clear that you only do it for him and that you still love him. Because if you ask me he doesn't feel loved. At all. And if that's not changing he'll run again sooner or later, or do something even worse."_   
_They went in to him and his mum gently woke him. Blinking his eyes he flinched as soon as he saw his dad standing in front of him looking angrily at him._

_The drive back home was mostly quiet, only his mum occasionally asking him something._   
_It was already past midnight when they finally arrived home._   
_Sleepy he followed his mother to the house and was just about to walk upstairs when his dad came in from the garage. Half asleep already he realised in horror that his father's grip was on him tugging him backwards down the stairs._   
_"Where the hell do you think you're going?!"_   
_"To bed!" Tom yelped as his dad tugged him on the ear all the way across the entrance hall to the living room. Tom threw his arms up to get out of the painful grip and had success. Spinning around he lost balance and smacked his head against the door. Bolts of light shot through his vision as he fell to the floor, blood dripping from his forehead._   
_"Thomas, darling!" His mother came running over to him but his dad was faster - unfortunately!_   
_"I'm paying a fortune to get you the best education possible! ... SMACK ... And you thank me ... SMACK ... by running away ... SMACK ... and telling that police officer we're treating you badly!" Again he smacked him across the face quite hard and if his mother wouldn't have interfered it probably would have ended worse._   
_Tom stared at his dad, who was towering over him, while his mum kneeled down beside him pressing a hanky to his forehead. Full of anger Tom started to scream at him "THEN FINISH IT! GET IT OVER WITH AND BEAT ME TO DEATH! JUST DO IT! PLEASE!"_   
_Both parents were shocked at that outburst, so they watched puzzled as he got up and headed to the stairs. Half way up he felt dizzy and nearly fell back down. Gripping the rail he tugged himself upstairs sprinting to the bathroom where he vomited._   
_His head still in the toilet bowl the bathroom door opened and he almost expected his father to stand there and really finish it. A part of him even hoped for that. But it was just his mum who was sitting down on the floor beside him._   
_Seeing his swollen face in the bright neon-light of the bathroom she almost flinched backwards. He stared at her for a moment tears running down his cheeks as did the blood from his forehead._   
_She got the first side kit from the dresser and cleaned the wound with him sitting back against the wall._   
_"I'm so sorry, darling. But you know that your father can overreact some time."_   
_He didn't bother to say anything just sat and let her take care of the wound._

_Once she was done she helped him to his feet and led him to bed. She helped him take off his shirt and jeans and put him up to bed glancing down worriedly at him._

 

"When we got back home from our uncle and aunt he was lying in bed all day. I think he had a concussion as he was really sleepy for about two weeks. Mum said it had been an accident but to be honest thinking about it I'm not sure. I mean had it been an accident why hadn't they brought him to the hospital, right? He never said anything about it, though.  
Maybe it was the best he left everything behind anyway. Can't really blame him."

They talked about so many different things and soon they were friends. Ella even invited her for dinner where she met Ella’s husband.


	19. A Glimmer of Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Andrea gets invited to a family event and faces more challenges

Andrea was invited to Ella's birthday party almost two weeks later. First she didn't want to go because she felt it would be weird to celebrate something while Tom was still in coma but somehow Ella had persuaded her.  
Andrea kissed Tom on the cheek before she left him alone with James who had agreed to stay with him although he was sure it wasn't necessary. If nobody had tried to kill him until now nobody would. He was sure of that.   
It had taken him all his persuasiveness to bring Michael off the crusade he was on to give away Andrea's and Tom's relationship. Everything had been useless until he finally asked him not to do it out of friendship to him. That was when Michael finally gave in.   
Still James was worried about Andy as she was officially suspended due to psychological reasons but he somehow doubted she would ever come back.

Andrea quickly went home, changed and got the present she had made for Ella. It was a picture of Tom stupidly grinning into the camera of her phone when they were in Paris on top of the Eiffel Tower.   
For the first time in weeks she jumped onto her bike and it felt really good somehow, plus it reminded her of Tom.  
After the drive to a small townhouse in north London she nervously fidgeted with her hands as she went up to the front door. With shaking fingers she rang the bell and a few moments later Ella opened the door.  
They hugged each other tightly before they went back in.  
"Oh, don't take off your shoes, it's not that warm in here."  
"I'll be fine." Reaching into her jacket she brought out the present. "Here. Happy birthday, again." They had spent the whole afternoon talking already, with Ella telling her the story when Tom "helped" their mum to bake a birthday cake for Laura and changed the sugar for salt.  
"Oh. You didn't have to."  
"It's nothing really big though."  
"Come on in." She started heading back to where the voices of her guests could be heard.  
"You might want to open it here."  
Furrowing her brows she quickly unwrapped the present and as she saw Tom's smiling face looking back at her a huge grin spread on her face.  
"Nothing special really. But it somehow always makes me feel better when I look at it."  
"Yeah, I can imagine. Thank you!" Again they hugged and Ella hid the picture in a drawer before they went back to the other guests.  
When Andrea entered the room everyone suddenly was silent staring at her and to her horror Tom's mother was there as well. Of course she was! How stupid of her to think she wouldn't be.  
"Okay, guys. That's my good friend Andrea. Andrea that's my mum and dad, my sister Laura and her husband Gerry..."  
She kept introducing every single person at the quite big table but Andrea somehow couldn't concentrate as she was faced with the people who had ruined her lover's life. Suddenly she felt the need to leave, felt like she was betraying Tom. But before she could Ella's three-year-old daughter, Jessica, came running up to her followed by another young and a bit taller girl.  
"Aunty Andy! How are you? Are you playing with us?"   
"Sure, honey." Relieved she let herself be dragged away by the girls.

They had been playing for a while when the girls had enough of playing with an adult and Andrea joined Ella who was in the kitchen preparing dinner.  
"Do you need a hand?"  
"Oh, I'm fine."  
"Come on, it's your birthday after all. You shouldn't be doing any of this."  
"That's what I've been telling her." Her husband Henry commented from the doorway.  
"He's right, darling." Another voice agreed from behind him and as Andrea turned she saw her mum come in. "Sit down and join your guests, darling. I'll handle that and I'm sure Andrea will help me."  
"Fine. Fine. Just put th..."  
"I know how to cook, darling."

So a few moments later Andrea found herself alone in the kitchen with Tom's not-mother. First they just continued making dinner in silence until the older woman asked "Are you still working for Tom?"  
"Y-yes." Hadn't Ella told her?  
"And how do you know Ella?"  
"We met at the hospital."  
"Does she know you work for her brother?"  
"Yes."  
"What??? She didn't tell me!"  
"Can't you guess why?"  
"What do you mean?"  
"Well, after all that happened..."  
An angry expression formed on her face "What do you know?!"  
"Quite a lot actually. And to be completely honest with you, it took me some effort not to rip your and your ex-husband's hearts out earlier."  
She looked even more shocked now, every colour dropping from her face. "How dare y..."  
"How dare I? You think after neglecting your child when he would have needed you the most you can show up almost 20 years later and everything would be fine?!"  
That took the wind out of her sails and she leaned with her back to the counter. "I just wanted to apologise, to try and redeem my mistakes somehow. I know they were massive, but I had to try. He's my son after all."  
"Yeah, that comes a bit late!" Andrea snarled sarcastically, grabbing the bred she headed to the dining room. She couldn't stay in that woman's company a moment longer or she would strangle her.

Minutes later they were sitting at the dining table. Henry was getting the girls for dinner while the others already started doing small-talk. Suddenly Jessica came running in holding a picture frame horribly familiar to Andrea in her small hands. Giggling she ran to her mum. "Mummy, mummy. Who is this? He looks funny!"  
Unprepared Ella looked from her father with whom she had been talking over at her daughter and Andrea could tell the moment he noticed who was on the pic his granddaughter held up. "What the hell?!" He muttered.  
Ella found herself lost for words, she had put the picture onto her nightstand earlier where none of her guests would see it.  
"What have you got there, sweetheart?"  
"Look, grandma." The girl ran over to the older woman before Ella could stop her.  
Her jaw dropped as she saw who was on the picture. "Tom!"  
"Who is Tom, grandma?"  
"Your uncle." Nothing more than a silent whisper.  
Everyone was dead silent for a moment. Laura's eyes widened and once again Andrea fought against her instinct to run.  
"How did you get this?" Her mother wanted to know "Have you talked to him? How is he?"  
Tears started to run down Ella's face as she looked over at Andrea searching for help. Of course when she did that all of their gaces were on her. She felt like a cornered animal and wished she had never left the hospital. As she still couldn't speak after a few moments Ella burst out "He almost died. We operated on him, I didn't know it was him and then they pull away the cover when we were done and my heart nearly stopped!"  
"What?!" Laura's jaw dropped while Henry grabbed his wife's hand.  
"He's still in coma." All of the women had tears in their eyes now only his father seemed not to be affected at all.  
For a moment everything was silent until his father slammed his fist on the table. "Why on Earth are you crying?! He doesn't give a shit about us, so stop it!"  
Taht was too much for Andrea and she burst like a vulcano. How could he say shit like that? "AND WHY S THAT SO? YOU NEGLECT AND ABUSE YOUR SON AND YOU LET HIM DOWN WHEN HE NEEDS YOU AND YOU EXPECT HIM TO COME CRAWLING ON HIS KNEES TO YOU? HOW FUCKING SICK IS THAT!!!"  
"How dare you say th..."  
"She's right!" His mum interrupted "I told you we shouldn't send him back to that school but you wouldn't listen. We let him down. Repeatedly. Nevermind your assaults."  
Snorting he got up and left, not seeing what he had done wrong.

After the door had slammed shut his mum turned to Andrea's shaking body holding her hands. "I knew you were more than just his secretary." Andrea tried to get her hands away from her but her grip was quite firm. "How long have you been together? Do you guys want children?"  
With a voice that didn't quite sound like her own she answered "You don't have the right to ask that!"  
"I know. And I know I never can make up for the shit I did. But I've been paying for that for years waking in the middle of the night shivering when I dreamed about him. He's still my son." She was crying now as well and Andrea could see that she meant everything she said but still that came over twenty years too late.  
"I have to go!" Andrea stood up her hands still in the elder woman's grip.  
"Oh, don't Andy, please."  
"Sorry Ella but I can't sit here listening to all that...stuff when I know what happened."  
Understanding she nodded and put one of her hands on her mothers arm. "Mum, please."  
Reluctantly she let go of Andrea who quickly headed to the door saying a short "bye" to them all.  
Just when she slipped into her jacket Ella showed up. "Sorry about that."  
"I am sorry. I just can't stay and sit next to her knowing that she could have prevented all that shit."  
"I know. But she's really suffering, believe me."  
"I don't doubt that, but I can't forgive her. Not after everything I know."  
"I totally understand that. Thanks for the picture. It's really amazing."  
"Your welcome. See you tomorrow?"  
"Yes. I have the day off but I'll be in."  
"Enjoy the rest of the evening. See you."  
"Bye." They briefly hugged before Andrea went outside and left.

First she wanted to go home but she somehow automatically drove towards the hospital and before she quite realised it she was pulling into the hospital's parking lot.  
She practically ran up the stairs and to his room. James looked up from his book, surprised to see her so soon.  
"You are already back?"  
"Yes, I couldn't handle those people any longer."  
"That bad?"  
"Yes." Her legs started shaking and he quickly pulled her onto a chair. As soon as she was sitting she completely lost it and started sobbing uncontrolably. He put an arm around her in order to calm her back down.  
"What happened Andy?"  
Still crying she told him what had happened at the party but he just looked at her not quite understanding what the problem was. Inhaling deeply she felt she needed to tell him.  
"He's been abused, James. At that, oh so posh, boarding school. I don't know details but to get you an idea: I've read an article were one guy said they were raped and beaten and whatever else repeatedly. Then he gets home to find his parents have cleared out his room, sort of getting rid of him. Plus his father is an abusive bastard. See the scars on his top lip and his forehead? That was his doing!"  
"Shit, Andy!"  
"Yes, exactly. I mean he would have needed his parents support and care but what do they do after he's begging not to go back there? Get him back nonetheless and then complain when he's breaking contact with them as soon as he can." Through her tear-stained gace she saw he also had tears in his eyes. "You know, he still has nightmares about everything. And that woman thinks that she ever could rectify that by saying I'm sorry 20 years later."  
"I had no idea. I almost feel sorry for him now."  
"Don't. He's strong. My sweety." She looked at Tom lovingly.

After James had left she sat alone with him again holding his hand but that didn't seem enough that night. So she took her shoes off and carefully laid down on the small bed beside him making sure not to rip off any wires. Nuzzling into the crook of his neck she soon fell asleep.

A couple go hours later she was roughly wakened by an angry nurse who was swearing at her for getting into bed beside him. She actually wanted tho throw Andrea out but somehow she prevented that although she had no idea how.   
So she took her usual seat next to him where she sat about three hours in the dark fully awake and not able to doze off again. But eventually she was totally exhausted and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

In the morning a whole group of doctors woke her to do the ward round and as usually she used that time to get some breakfast. Usually they were finished by the time she got back, not so that day. The door to his room was still closed and she slowly started to worry when a nurse came by she nervously asked "Are they still in there? Is something wrong?"  
"Yes, they are still in. I think they are doing some tests."  
"Tests?" A familiar voice asked from behind somewhere and as Andrea turned she looked into Ella's slightly worried looking face.  
"Good morning, doctor Johnston. I thought you had the day off?"  
"I only want to visit my brother."  
"Oh, right. Doctor Laurie said something about that."  
"What tests?"  
"I don't know, Doctor."  
"Thanks, Liz."  
When the nurse was gone they hugged briefly and waited until finally the door opened and the bunch came back out. Ella immediately stepped forward "Doctor Laurie, what's going on?"  
"See you all in room 304 in a minute." The group of young doctors left and he gestured for the two women to get in the room. He stepped in behind them and explained. "We just checked if his lungs are healed enough to stop the sedation. And it looks quite good. We'll stop giving the medicine tomorrow and see if he's breathing on his own."  
"What if he doesn't?" Andrea asked in a thin voice.  
Doctor Laurie looked at Ella and briefly nodded at her. She cleared her throat before she spoke "There are two options: one he just needs some more time to recover but as it's been four weeks already that shouldn't be the case. And the second option is that he's lungs are used to the ventilation and he'll have a hard time to get of the respirator, if he will at all."  
Andrea swallowed hard hoping that won't be the case.

After the doctor had left they sat down like usually holding his hands.  
"Mum was really impressed by how you talked to dad yesterday. No one ever had the guts to do that. Except for Tom."  
She just shrugged her shoulder thinking that if their mother had done it when they had been young Tom wouldn't have suffered as he had.  
"But you know what, dad called me this morning asking about Tom. And when I asked why he suddenly cared, he said he always had and that he felt terrible for all that happened. He only tried to convince himself that Tom was fine without us because if he wasn't he would have been the person who ruined his life."  
"Well, he might not have ruined his entire life but definitely his childhood."  
"Yes. But he even cried and dad never cries."  
Andrea stayed quite. It was good if he suffered, very good actually. 

 

The next morning wasn't much different only that she was totally nervous. Would everything go well?   
After she had breakfast she came back to his room to find the door open but the doctors were still in. Carefully she entered and watched.  
The respirator had been disconnected and they all stared at a monitor where a number was slowly sinking from 95 to 93 to 89. She knew from Ella that it was the oxygen saturation. So if it was sinking it meant he wasn't breathing without the help of the machine.   
Devastated Andrea sank with her back against the wall as one of the young doctors grabbed the tube to connect it back to the one in Tom's mouth. Closing her eyes she willed away the tears which wanted to emerge.  
"Was that...?" An excited voice burst out. "Come on! Again!"  
Blinking her eyes she looked over at the group just to see that Tom's chest was rising. Disbelievingly she looked over at the monitor and saw that the number was going up again.   
"Great. Well done, Tom." Doctor Laurie said. "Turner, you will keep an eye on him." With that he turned and when he saw Andrea standing there a smile spread on his face. "Everything looking good."  
"When will he wake up?"  
"We can't say that precisely. It differs from patient to patient. Some wake after hours others take weeks or even months."  
Months? No. She needed her sweety at her side, needed to hug him and be hugged.  
"We'll leave the tube in his mouth for a bit longer because if his breathing fails and it's out already we most likely won't get another one in. But if tomorrow morning his breathing is still stable we'll take it out."  
"Thanks, Doc."

After they've been gone she sat down on her chair gripping his hand. "Hey, sweety. I'm right here with you. Take your time. But if you can then not months. Please. I miss you sooooo much. Okay?" She leaned forward and kissed his cheek gently.  
Now she had to wait. Again.

The next morning they removed the tube in his mouth and put an oxygen mask on him and now he was really looking like was just sleeping which somehow comforted her.  
When she was already at his side every moment before, now she wouldn't leave his side at all in case he would wake up. She hadn't changed her clothes or showered in three days when one evening Ella came in after she had finished her shift.  
"Okay, Andy. Time to go home: shower and change! You don't want him to wake because you're stinking to high heaven."  
"I can't Ella. What if he wakes up?! I don't want him to think I've left him."  
"Well, then I'll tell him. And now go."  
"No!"  
"Andy, if Doctor Laurie wouldn't like you so much he would have kicked you out long ago. But if you're not even washing anymore..."  
"Am I really stinking that bad?"  
"Well, it's still bearable but not much longer."  
"Okay, fine. But you have to promise you stay here until I come back."  
"Of course I will. And now go."

 

When he hadn't woken after another week Andrea felt gutted. If he took even more time she would go crazy, if she wasn't already.  
All his vitals were good but he didn't wake. When she left then for the briefest of times and only when either Ella or sometimes James were with him. Also she hardly slept more than two or three hours as she was afraidbof missing when he woke.  
That day was no different. She sat awake most of the night and had dozed off in the early hours of the morning. But something was off. She didn't know how she knew but she did. She practically jumped up from her light slumber only to see a member of the medical stuff lean over him holding a injection.   
Stretching she greeted the guy, she only saw from behind "Good morning."  
Surprised his head spun round "Morning" he answered before he grabbed one of the small tubes going into one Tom's arteries.  
"What are you doing? Stop!"  
"Miss, I'm only doing my job."  
She had never seen the guy here before which was suspicious immediately. "No. Take a step back!" Andrea looked around for a sort of alarm button but couldn't find any. "What is in the injection?"  
"Medicine." He placed the tip of the needle at the tube.  
"I said stop!" With one hard tug she ripped the wires from Tom's chest and immediately the monitor showing his heartbeat went off with loud beeps.  
Surprised the guy looked at her his eyes widening as the first footsteps came closer to them. Coursing he spun around and ran. The agent in Andrea was back as she went after him right away.  
He was heading for the exit and just when he past the door to the ICU she tackled him sending him to the floor. People gathered around them to see what was going on. The guy tried to smack his elbow into her face but she was faster and a moment later had his arm in a firm grip pressed to his back.  
"What's going on Andy?" A confused looking Ella asked from behind her.  
"He wanted to give Tom some injection. Thought there was something off." She was panting heavily pressing her knee into the guys neck.  
Ella looked past her furrowing her brows "But he doesn't work here."  
"That's what I thought. You don't have some zip ties or something."  
"Well, we could use the restraints we use on patients."  
"Perfect. Get some."

After Andrea had cuffed the guy to a desk in the doctor's lounge, she called James and told him what had been going on. He was somehow shocked but assured her that he would be there in a bit with support.   
While she waited she sat on Tom's room holding his hand with her slightly shaking one. "That was close, sweety. Maybe they'll believe me now."  
Puzzled Andrea held in. Did his fingers just move a bit against hers? Staring at his hand in hers she asked "Can you hear me, sweety?" She waited a moment but nothing happened. "Just move either finger, if you do." Again nothing. She slowly became frustrated as she naturally wasn't really patient.  
"Everything alright with him?" A familiar Scottish voice asked.  
A small grin spread on her face on hearing James' concerned tone. "Yes. Just got that prick right on time. He's locked up in the doctor's lounge." As she turned she saw Michael standing next to him.  
"Did he say anything?"   
"No."  
"Lets check him, mate." James turned to Michael.   
"Hang on, guys. I want to come too." And then to Tom. "I'll be right back sweety." She kissed his cheek and waved over a nurse as she reached the hallway.   
"Miss?"  
"Would you stay with him until I'm back."  
"I'll do that." Ella said from behind them and walked directly into the room.

 

They questioned the guy for a while but the only thing he said was "I want to make a call." So they finally gave up and James and Michael took him to the headquarters along with the injection to see what was in it while Andrea walked back to Tom's room.

 

Ella was holding his hand as she came in again.  
"Did that guy want to kill him?"  
"Most likely, yes."  
"But why? What is it you're not telling me? Why would he want to kill a night club owner?"  
Sighing Andrea considered telling her the truth and decided she deserved knowing everything. "Well, he's more than that. He's involved in some drug dealings among other things. I was appointed to infiltrate his organisation but fell in love with him. He's made some enemies as he wanted to stop doing those things."  
"What? My brother is a drug dealer?!" Shocked she let go of his hand.  
"I know it sounds quite bad but he's a great guy."  
"I don't know what to say." She pushed back the chair, stood up and slowly left the room without saying anything else.  
Shaking her head Andrea sat back down next to him grabbing his hand.   
For some time she just sat there staring at nothing but eventually hot tears started to run down her face and she felt so alone. She needed someone comforting her, after all someone had just tried to kill the love of her life and had almost succeeded.  
Out of a sudden instinct she kicked off her shoes and got onto bed next to him again. She just needed the comfort. Cuddling against him her tears soon subsided and she fell into a deep sleep.


	20. Better

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is there hope?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally managed to update. But I was on holidays and started a new job.

In the middle of the night Andrea was roughly awakened again by the same nurse as last time.  
"I'll talk to Doctor Laurie and you won't be allowed to stay here any longer! That's not how this works here!"  
Apologising Andrea got out of the bed and sat back down on her chair.  
"No. You'll leave. Now!" The nurse gripped her arm and wanted to tug her onto her feet. "If you don't go, I'll call security!"  
"No, you won't!" A thick Scottish accent interrupted.  
"James?!" Andrea looked at him in surprise.  
"Who the fuck are you to tell me wh..."  
"McAvoy. James McAvoy. MI6." He presented his badge.  
"And? I'm still in charge here."  
"Mr. Hiddleston here almost was victim to an assassination earlier today, so you will accept us being here to protect him."  
She looked at him with a sour face before she left without saying anything else.

Curious Andrea raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing here at this hour?"  
"The guy's name is Victor Smikov. He's an assassin. We're not sure who hired him, yet. But thus we can't be sure they won't send another one, so your Tom is officially under our protection now. I'm the first shift."  
Only now she saw James was wearing his gun under the leather jacket.  
"That stuff in the injection was magnesium. An overdoze can kill someone within minutes making it look like simple cardiac arrest."  
"Fuck!"  
"Andrea, we don't think it's got to do with the drug thing. Smikov is usually working for people in high places."  
"What do you mean?"  
"Well, like the government. Not only ours. We were questioning him and director Steward came in calling us away. In his office he told us he had had a call from the American ambassador telling him to let Smikov go. And a minute later there had been a call from the Prime Minister's office saying the same."  
"And who decided that Tom will get protection then as it rather sounds like they want to have him killed rather than protected?"  
"Well, I think it's the same like with Smikov, your Tom knows too much. No idea about what or who that's why director Steward decided it was worth protecting him."  
"And once he wakes up he wants him to collaborate, doesn't he?"  
"Didn't say so but most likely, yes. How is he by the way?"  
"Still the same."

 

Another three days later Michael was on duty in the morning. James had had the night shift and once Michael was there James and Andrea went to have a coffee.  
First Michael was standing in Tom's room but couldn't look at him long without wanting to smash his face in.   
He might have saved Andrea, James and the others but still had probably killed his undercover agent and he felt responsible for her death. So he leaned outside against the door frame and watched the nurses and doctors. The young blonde one he fancied just came towards him.  
"Morning, Doctor Johnston."  
"Good morning, agent Fassbender. Everything alright?"  
"Yes, sure. But hey, why don't you call me Michael?" He was obviously flirting with her.  
"Okay, Michael. I'm Ella but you should know I'm a married woman."  
"Oh, damn. Once more too late. Have I been that obvious?"  
Chuckling she wanted to brush past him but he didn't move a single inch. "I need to continue with my work. Please."  
"And what do I get?"  
"A kick in the butt if you don't move."  
Grinning Michael stepped aside and let her pass, however, he followed her into the room. He watched her take his vitals and note some things on his file when suddenly his right hand moved. She obviously had seen it as well and was now standing upright and stared like paralised down at him. Then he blinked his eyes.  
"Andrea." Barely audible he whispered while looking at the doctor. She seemed to have stopped breathing.  
"Andrea?" This time it was a little louder and he even lifted his hand towards her which seemed to get her moving again.  
"No, I'm not Andrea. I'm Doctor Johnston. You're in hospital."  
"Where is she?" His eyes were hooded and Michael thought he'd fall back to sleep any minute, even his voice sounded like that.  
"She just went to have breakfast." She swallowed hard and took a step back "I'll get your doctor. Be right back."  
She almost ran out into the hallway where she leaned her back to the wall while Michael watched her curiously. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply a couple of times.  
"Everything alright?"  
Only now she realised she was being watched, so she quickly cleared her throat. "Sure." And as a nurse went by she told her to get Doctor Laurie. After shaking her head lightly she turned down the hall and disappeared in the women's toilets. Interested Michael watched thinking about what was going on between her and Hiddleston. Did she know him? However, he didn't seem to recognise her. He looked over his shoulder at him and he slowly tried to lift himself up, without much success though.  
"I don't think you should do thar." Why did he say that? If it was for him he could die trying to get up or whatever.

 

Tom had heard voices occassionally but his eyes wouldn't open and his body wouldn't move, besides he didn't quite remember what had happened. The last image imprinted on his memory was Andrea standing on the balcony of the warehouse, along with some colleagues, and one of Jackman's men sneaking up behind her. Then there had been shots... That was it.  
So when he opened his eyes and saw her he was so relieved, but only until he noticed it wasn't her. The woman was blonde. Maybe she had dyed her hair? But no, it wasn't her. He felt a rush of panic grab him until he heard the young doctor say that she had only gone to get breakfast.  
Relieved he sank back into his pillow when the woman left. Something about her seemed familiar to him. Did he know her?  
He heard voices from the corridor and soon almost drifted back to sleep, but he wanted to see Andrea, tell her how much he loved her. So he tried to get up pushing up on his elbows but he was too weak. How long had he been here anyway? What had happened?  
Then a voice startled him. "I don't think you should do that."  
A tall man stood in the door looking at him with a cold glance. For a moment he struggled to put the name to the face but then he remembered seeing the man on a photograph Strong had given him. Fassbender. Scotland Yard. Was he under arrest? Most likely.   
After all they had shown up when he wanted to buy a huge amount of drugs. Fuck!  
Struggling to breath he leaned back closing his eyes. He felt so tired and exhausted but he somehow managed to get out "What's going on?"  
"Nothing. I think you should sleep." There was definitely something hostile in that voice and he couldn't blame the cop.  
"I want to wait for..." He held in. Did he know? Had she told them? Maybe she was there only to make sure he wasn't going anywhere. Had she fooled him?  
His head was spinning and he felt like someone was choking him, his lungs barely working anymore.   
"Shit! Hiddleston! Look at me!" He felt warm fingers at his cheeks but everything grew dark around him. The last words he heard was a panicked scream. "DOCTOR!"

 

Andrea sat in the cafeteria of the hospital - once again - with James, drinking coffee and trying to eat something but after the second bite of her sandwich tears started to fall.  
"Andy, please. He'll wake up. For sure."  
"And what if he doesn't? I can't lose him, James."  
"What if he has to go to prison?"  
"That's different. I could visit him."  
"Yeah. Would make his life in there way easier with a cop-girlfriend!"  
"To be honest, I'm not sure if I can go back to being an agent. And if I even would be allowed to. After all I blew our operation by falling for the criminal I was supposed to take down."  
"Nobody knows about that, apart from Mike, Nick, Anne-Marie and me. And we won't say a word."  
"No-one's been asking questions where I am or anything?"  
"Director Steward has asked a couple of times, but as far as your official state is concerned, you're traumatised from that assignment and are at home. Sick."  
"Really?!"  
"Yes. Don't you get your paycheques?"  
"To be honest I don't know. I've been here like 24/7."  
"Hmm. Maybe you should go home, at least over night."  
"I can't. Not until I know he's gonna be fine. Speaking off, I think I'll go back."  
"But you've barely eaten anything!"  
"Can't. And you should go home. Your shift's over."  
"Okay. I'll just bring you down and then leave. Come on."

Talking and laughing they headed back to the ICU but, as soon as she saw the closed door of Tom's room and Michael looking worriedly, it almost felt like the sky was falling down onto her. She ran towards the door but Michael stopped her by wrapping his arms around her waist.  
"What happened? Is he dead?"  
"Andrea, calm down!" She fought to escape Michael's grip but couldn't. "He woke up and asked for you. Then he couldn't bre..."  
Right then the door opened and two nurses came out followed by Doctor Laurie.  
"What's going on?" Andrea felt hot tears stream down her face.  
"He's had a panic attack, that's it. We just gave him something to calm down. He's sleeping now."  
"So he's going to be okay?!"  
"Absolutely."  
Andrea nearly collapsed in relief. Finally some good news!

A couple of hours later Andrea was sitting at his side watching him sleeping whilst holding his hand. His mouth and nose were covered with an oxigen mask but that didn't bother her as he really looked like he was just sleeping now. She didn't know how she could tell the difference but she could. He looked so peaceful.  
A soft knock on the door startled her "Hey, Andy."  
"Ella? You made up your mind?" The days since she had revealed, who Tom really was, his sister had only come by to do her job but now she was dressed in her private clothes and obviously off duty.  
"Not quiet. I just wanted to tell you that the first thing he said was your name. He even thought I was you for a moment."  
"Really? Did he recognise you?"  
"I don't think so. Good night."  
"Ella, please. He's made some bad decissions. I know. But can you really blame him?"  
"I don't know. I need more time." With that she turned and left them alone.

 

It was the middle of the night and James had once more taken Michael's place. Andrea had fallen asleep about two hours ago with her head resting on Tom's mattress next to his hand. James was walking up and down the corridor trying not to get too bored. The nurses were nice and brought him coffee and something to eat occassionally. Once again he passed the door to his room when he caught a movement from the corner of his eye. He stopped dead in his track, his hand automatically going to his gun. Narrowing his eyes he stared into the semi-darkness of the room.   
Relieved he dropped his hand to his side when he saw it was only Tom's hand moving and stroking through Andy's hair.

 

When Tom woke up again the room was dark, only lit by the pale moonlight coming in through the window and a bit falling in through the open door. Sleepy he blinked his eyes and took in his surroundings. First he didn't see much, only a sterile hospital room and a man was walking up and down by his door. One of his captors, surely!   
But then he saw the small frame of a woman sitting next to him, her head rested only inches from his hand and occassionally he could feel her warm breath against his fingers.  
"Andrea?" He whispered barely audible. For a moment he watched her and soon was sure she was sleeping soundly. From time to time she let out a light snore or a grunt which she always did while sleeping. Smiling he slowly moved his hand to her head and stroked gently through the soft strands of her hair.  
He continued until he had the feeling of being watched and as he looked over to the door he saw a shadow standing in the door frame.  
"She won't leave your side, not even for sleeping." A man spoke in a thick Glaswegian accent that reminded him of his father's.  
"Really?" He asked as quiet as possible, not wanting to wake her.  
"Yeah. I don't know why, but she's madly in love with you."  
"Is she?"  
"Yes. And to be honest, I don't think you deserve her."  
"Me neither." He answered truthfully.   
"But you saved her, well our lifes, which I have to thank you for and apologise for shooting you."  
Confused Tom blinked his eyes, he couldn't see the man's face in the dark but he soon knew who he was. Andrea had told him a lot about this man.  
"You are James, right?"  
Puzzled he stared at the tall man still stroking Andy's hair "Yes."  
Tom had to grin at the obvious confused agent. "She told me a lot about you, how she admires you, that you taught her everything and are one of her best friends."  
"Did she?"  
Fuck, had he just given away their relationship? "I mean, I... We..."  
Now James had to grin "Don't worry. I know everything. She speaks quite highly of you. But I'm not conviced, yet. Although I have to say, I initially was really sceptical whether you were being serious with her. But in that warehouse... The looks you exchanged... That told me everything I needed to know."  
"The warehouse? What happened?"  
"You don't remember?"  
"Only that suddenly you guys showed up and that prick Donalds was sneeking up on Andrea. And some shots."  
"Well, you put a bullet through that guys head. Unfortunately I thought you wanted to shoot Andy, so I fired at you. Twice. Sorry about that."  
Tom nodded and swallowing hard as the memory came back slowly. "It's alright. You only wanted to protect her."  
"Good shot, by the way."  
Tom didn't know why but somehow he liked this guy, despite that he had shot him. "I hope she didn't have any trouble because of me. I mean, I don't want to distroy her career or something."  
"So far only a few people know about you two and that's how we're planning to keep it."  
"That's good." Tom suddenly felt very sleepy (and relieved) at least about Andrea still being an agent. "I guess I should end it, should have a while ago, but I can't. I just love her too much."  
"Good to hear." He stepped a bit closer and making sure Andrea was still sleeping and as he was sure he asked "Do you have any idea who might be interessted in you being dead?"  
Tom furrowed his brows "What?"  
"A couple of days ago a professional assassin tried to kill you trying to make it look like an accident. Andy just about stopped him. The guy has been on the CIA's and several governments' pay role before. That's why we had to let him go."  
Tom's head was spinning, he had a whole list of people wanting him dead, but in such high places? "I don't know. Several, but mostly criminals, drug lords and stuff like that." Then another idea crossed his mind "Does the guy know about our relationship?"  
Now James looked confused.  
"Well, did he see her like that or what? Because if so, you have to protect her as she'd probably be in bigger danger than I - with you guys walking about like that."  
"Haven't thought about that, but you're definitely right. And the attack is the actual reason we're walking about here."  
"What?"  
"We're here to protect you."  
"I'm not under arrest?"  
"No. Jackman tried to fool you. There was not a single gram of any sort of drugs in that warehouse. He wanted to get rid of you. Andy said you wanted to quit?"  
Tom nodded looking puzzled from side to side thinking about what James had just told him. "But how can you be sure that guy wasn't employed by Jackman or someone else?"  
"We're not sure at all. But we hadn't even finished interrogating Smikov when our boss came in telling us to stop. The American embassy had called and asked for his release and only minutes later the Primeminister's office. I think you made some very influential enemies."  
"Well, let's just say if something happens to me a lot of people in high places will have to resign. And they know it, so if anything they'd want to protect me. Plus some are really good friends."  
"Like the superintendent?"  
"For example."  
"Gosh, wouldn't it be for Andy I'd smash your face in." Shocked Tom looked up at the smaller man. Well, he was a cop after all. "And you actually seem to be alright."  
Relieved Tom inhaled deeply. Somehow it meant a lot to him that Andrea's friend liked him - at least a bit.  
"You seem alright for a copper as well. Can I make a phone call?"  
"Sure. But maybe in the morning. It's... 3.35 at night."  
"Hmm."  
"Go back to sleep, you look pretty exhausted."  
"I will try. And thanks for looking after her."  
James smiled at him lightly and turned closing the door behind him.

 

When Andrea woke early in the morning she felt a slight cramp in her neck and her back wasn't much better, then she noticed that there was a hand resting on the side of her head. Blinking she reached up to it and when she realised it was Tom's a huge smile spread on her face.   
"Tom?" She saw that his eyes were closed but wasn't sure if he was sleeping. There was no visible reaction so she tried again with the same result, only his usual light snore.  
"He woke up in the middle of the night." A familiar Scotish brogue said from the door.  
Slowly sitting up she held his hand while stretching "Why didn't you wake me?"  
"He didn't want to."  
Leaning forward she tenderly kissed his cheek. "What did he say?"  
"That he loved you too much to let you go. And he made a very good point. What if Smikov or his employers knows that you're in love?" Andrea furrowed her brows, not sure what James was saying. "Do you have your gun with you?"  
"I don't quite know what you're trying to tell me."  
"If they know about you two, they might use you as pressurising matter against him as he apparently has lots of compromising material on many people. And he said if something happened to him, it would be released."  
"Gosh! I don't know about that. I mean he's told me that once before but..."  
"Morning!" Michael greeted them.  
"Hi, Michael." They answered together.  
"What's up?"

James quickly informed him and he quickly agreed that Andrea might be in danger.  
"I'll stop at your flat before I come here tonight and bring your gun. Where's the key to your safe?"  
"Here." She fished it out of her pocket handing it to James. "Still I don't think it's nesseccary."  
"Better safe than sorry."   
Michael commented and after he had left the room James leaned down to her and whispered "You still have his phone, don't you?"  
"Sure." Confused she looked at him.   
"He wanted to call someone. Make sure you guys are alone when he does."  
"Okay. Thanks James." They briefly hugged before he finally went home for the day.

Andrea sat on Tom's side, holding his hand all the time, her head spinning with what James had told her and she'd come to the conclusion that he was actually right. If the wrong people knew about her and Tom, they'd use it against him.   
Maybe their relationship was doomed to fail, no matter how much they loved each other.   
She thought about the day they had first slept with each other and how good it had felt when they held each other afterwards. None of this was fair. Staring at the wall she thought about how they would continue when Tom was fit again when he firmly gripped her hand.  
Startled she glanced at him and a huge smile spread on his beautiful face.   
"Andrea."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Probably one more chapter, maybe two.


	21. True Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tom's slowly feeling better, but there are bumps in the road

"Tom."  
She threw her arms around him and kissed him deeply. When their lips parted after a bit tears were running down her face. Smiling lightly he brought his hands to her face and gently wiped them away.  
"I've missed you, my darling. Soooo much."  
"I'm also happy to see you. I love you, Andrea."  
"I love you, too. More than anything. I almost went nuts when I thought I'd lose you."  
"I'm so sorry, my love."  
"Don't. You saved my life."  
They kissed again, only more passionate than before.

She sat back in her chair feeling a huge relief; she had him back. Now everything would be fine.  
"You're so beautiful." He smiled at her whilst trying to get up but just like the day before he couldn't.  
"What are you doing?"  
"I want to get up."  
"I don't think that's a good idea. You're too weak. After all you've been in coma for nearly two months."  
"WHAT?" Now he only tried harder to get up. After all he still had a business to run."  
"Shhhhh. It's okay." Gently she grabbed his upper arms and pressed him back against the mattress which was easier than she thought. "You'll need some time to recover."  
"But what about my c..."  
"Don't you worry. Salma and Damian are running everything."  
"Still, I want to get out of here. I fucking hate hospitals."  
"Well, who doesn't? But you need to get better first."  
"I'm great." To prove his point he once more tried to get up and out of bed. This time he even managed to roll to his side and swing his right leg out of bed. However, there were still some wires and tubes attached to his body and one in particular caused him to grimace out of pain. "OW! What the...?!" His hand went under the blanket only to find a catheter in his dick.  
Involuntarily Andrea had to grin at his puzzled face. With a angry look on his face he sat up which on one hand made him gasp in pain again and on the other hand ripped the sensors off his chest which immediately caused a deaphening alarm.  
Confused Tom looked over at the annoying monitor while pulling off the oxygen sensor on his finger.  
"Fucking shit."  
He was clearly in pain, Andrea could tell easily, but he didn't stop trying to get out of the bed.  
"Darling, please." She stepped closer to him and wanted, like before, to push him back into bed which she managed just when the door flew open and Ella and two nurses came rushing in. One of them quickly switched of the alarm.  
"What's going on here?" Questioningly Ella looked from Andrea to her brother and back.  
"I want to get out of this shit whole! Fuck!"  
"I don't think that's such a good idea." A male voice came from the door.   
They all turned towards Doctor Laurie and Ella seemed obviously relieved to find him standing there. Slowly he came towards them.  
"Your muscles are way to weak, yet. If you're a good boy, you'll be moved to the normal ward. But you'll have to stay here for at least four more weeks."  
"You're fucking joking, right?" At first Tom had struggled against Andy's grip but eventually he couldn't any longer and as he spoke again she could here the desperation in his voice, only to prove that a single tear ran down his face.  
"Mr. Hiddleston, you were injured badly and your body needs time to recover from that."  
Like a child in fear he looked over to Andrea, tears in his eyes. She smiled lightly at him gripping his hand tightly.  
"We'd like to do some tests. Would you wait outside Andrea?"  
"No." Tom protested and held her hand even firmer than before.  
"I'll be right outside the door, my darling." She gently kissed him whilst getting up from her chair. Pouting he nodded and finally let go of her hand.  
Ella wanted to follow her but was stopped by Doctor Laurie. "I'll need your help Doctor Johnston."  
"I can get someone else Do..."  
"Nonsense."

Tom followed that exchange with interest, now that he really saw the woman, he was sure he knew her - and her behaviour proved that - but still he had no idea where from. Had she worked for him in one of the clubs? Well she definitely was pretty enough to do so and it would also explain why she would feel uncomfortable around him. He racked his brain while they did several tests on him: from breathing, to checking his motorics, to taking a blood sample, etc.  
By the time they were finished Tom felt really sleepy again, only the pain in his chest was keeping him up. Well, Andrea seemed to have been right: it wasn't the best idea to try and get up.  
"Okay. Everything looking good so far. We'll keep you here for maybe two or three more days and then transfer you to the normal ward."  
He nodded and wiggled a bit to get into a more comfortable position which sent another wave of pain through his body. To his credit he didn't even gasp. However, the young doctor noticed anyway.  
"You are in pain, aren't you?"  
Doctor Laurie's eyebrow went up and curiously looked at him. Of course he'd never admit just how bad it was so he simply said "It's not too bad."

After giving him some painkillers and explaining that the pain came from the bones of his rip cage healing they finally left and despite Tom wanting to wait for Andrea coming back he was already back to sleep when they went through the door.  
In the hallway Doctor Laurie explained to Andrea what he had told Tom and also said that he'd send in a physiotherapist to help build his muscles up again.   
When he turned to leave Andrea gripped Ella's hand looking at her pleadingly.  
"I still haven't decided." She just said coldly.  
"He's your brother, after all. Just give him a chance."  
"Andrea, I really like you. But the last thing I need is a criminal in the family."  
"But he's stopped. I told you th..."  
"I've got patients now." With that she ripped her hand from Andrea's grip and quickly disappeared in another patient's room.

Michael had stood around the corner and listened with interest to their conversation. Maybe they could use this somehow...

Two days later Andrea, as usually, sat at his side. The physiotherapy had already started and Tom tried to eat his breakfast on his own but after a couple of bites his arm felt so heavy, nevermind the pain swallowing the food. Naturally Andrea noticed that and took the spoon from him. She filled it with porridge and slowly brought it to his mouth, only for him to move his head away.  
"You need to eat, darling." Pouting like a little child he shook his head.  
"Please, Tom. Just a couple of more spoons." Again he just shook his head.  
"Aren't you hungry?"  
Well, he actually was starving but every bite, every gulp hurt like shit, so it nearly made him scream every time.  
Sighing she dropped the spoon into the bowl and picked up the cup. Bringing the straw to his mouth, he reacted the same way as before.  
"You need to drink something, darling. For me." With her best puppy eyes she looked at him and he made the mistake of looking back at her. Damn!   
Reluctantly he opened his mouth and started drinking but after the third gulp tears of pain shot into his eyes and he stopped.  
"Does it hurt to swallow?" Ella's voice came from the door.  
Puzzled Andrea looked from her at him but he only sat there with his head thrown back against the pillow. Realisation hit Andrea "Yes, it does, doesn't it, darling?"  
As answer there was just a slight whimper coming from him.  
"Probably an infection in the throat due to the intubation tube being in for quite a while. We'll check that. Be right back."  
When she was gone he slowly opened his eyes blinking away some tears.  
"I've got the feeling I know her from somewhere, Andrea. Has she said anything?"  
She swallowed hard. Could she really lie to him? But just when she opened her mouth to do just that, Ella came back in.

In the afternoon Tom was moved from the ICU to the internist ward where he got a room at the end of a long corridor, the easiest way to make sure no-one unwanted got to him. Also each agent got a list with staff of the whole floor, from the doctors to the cleaning ladies. However, what they didn't know (not even Andrea), Tom had arranged his own security, less for himself than for his love.

The weeks went on and he felt better with every day. The thing only was that the chief physician of the ward wouldn't allow Andrea to stay overnight in his room. So usually she pretended to do the night shift with her colleague and as soon as the doctor left she'd go into Tom's room and cuddle in his bed or if he had the night shift she reluctantly went home and would talk with Tom on the phone until either of them fell asleep.  
After about two weeks Tom was finally allowed to get up although at that point he needed some aid to stand longer than a couple of seconds. Salma had brought some clothes for him to Andrea's flat. To her misery she still wasn't allowed to visit (only this time because of the MI6) but she had at least been able to talk with him on the phone regularly.

About another week later Andrea was sitting on his bed next to him. They were holding hands and kissing passionately. When they ended their kiss her eyes involuntarily moved lower where apparently he was very excited about her being there with him.  
"Sorry about that," he apologised sheepishly.  
"Why?" Licking her lips she reached for his raging hard-on.  
"It's not very...shall we say, romantic, in here."  
"I don't care about romance. I want you Tom. No matter where."  
"In that case." He quickly grabbed her and tugged her backwards onto the bed with him claiming her mouth once more.  
She was surprised that he seemed to have regained his normal strength so fast and could overpower her so easily again that soon.  
His eager hands found their way underneath her t-shirt and greedily massaged her breasts while she stroked her fingers through his relatively long curls.  
Before she even quite registered he brushed her shirt over her head and his fingers opened her belt and pants.   
It didn't take long until they both were completely naked and Tom's mouth was on her nipples.  
"Oh, fuck! Tom! Please, stop torturing me and fuck me."  
With an evil grin he threw her on her back and parted her thighs while getting in position. That was when a sting in his chest made him stop. "Ow. Bloody hell." He tried to continue but it only got worse, so he eventually sat back up looking apologetic and regreting at her.  
"I'm so sorry, love. I don't think I..." His dick was still rock-hard and there was nothing he'd rather do but not like that.  
Luckily she had an idea. Quickly Andrea got up from her position on the mattress and pushed him with his back down onto it winking at him. It didn't take him long to get what she was doing.  
"Is that alright for you?" Questioningly she raised her eyebrow. "Well, doing all the work. I'd much ra..."  
"Shut up, darling." With that she grabbed his erection and slowly sank herself down onto it. They both gasped in excitement as his thick shaft finally stretched her tight tunnel again, however, she had to stop with him only half way in to get used to his length after that long. They kissed tenderly and after a short break she took him further in until he was buried to the hilt in her tight wetness.   
It wasn't like there usual sex, it felt so much more intimate, despite the weird location, as they passionately made love. Soon they both were close and orgasmed right at the same time.  
His cock still inside her he wrapped her tightly in his arm and pressed her against his body.   
"Fuck, that was amazing. Thank you, my darling."  
"Yeah. It was great." Then it hit her like a train, she had totally forgotten about something. "Fucking shit!" She wanted to sit up but Tom wouldn't let go of her.  
"What is it, my love?"  
"I haven't taken the pill in ages! Shit!"  
Grinning he held her even closer "And?"  
"Well, you know..."  
"Would it be that bad?"  
"You want children?"  
"Sure. Some day. With you. I know we haven't really talked about any of this but I love you from the bottom of my heart and I want to be with you."  
"Really?"  
"Yeah, sure. You don't want to be with me?"  
"Of course I do. It's only a bit fast, don't you think?"  
"Maybe. But I'm sure."  
A huge smile spread on her face and she pressed her lips onto his for a deep kiss. That was when the door was opened and the chief physician stood in the door along with a nurse.  
"What the hell is going on here?!"  
Behind him they could see Michael staring slightly shocked at them.  
"We're making love." Tom announced coldly, not bothering of their nakedness.  
"This has to stop! After all this is a hospital and not a brothel!"  
"Fine. Then I'll just go home."   
The medic looked puzzled at Tom's straight answer but Andrea wasn't too happy about that. Grabbing her shirt she quickly apologised and wanted to get off Tom but he wouldn't let her go.  
With a deep sigh the older man gave up. "Get dressed, both of you. We want to do a check up. Please."  
Tom grinned from ear to ear at his success as the medical staff left the room again. "What an idiot! I can't stand that guy."  
"I think that's how he feels about you, too."  
"Then why bother? There are at least four other doctors on this floor. I'll tell you why. He hopes I'll donate some money to this shit whole!"  
"Most likely."  
"But then he should have been more respectful to both of us. I mean he basically just called you whore."  
"Tom?!" She handed him his boxers while getting into her undies herself.  
"It's true though. And nobody calls my girl that!" 

When they were finished dressing Andrea went to the door and let them back in while stepping into the hallway to Michael's side who looked at her with a raised eyebrow.  
"What?"  
"Sex in a hospital bed?"  
"Why not?"  
Shrugging his shoulders he chuckled lightly. "Not to ruin your good mood but director Steward is on his way, together with some guy from the CIA. They want to question him."  
Snorting Andrea looked back at Michael. "And?"  
"Just telling you. Not that you guys continue where you left off and Director Steward walks in."  
"Right. Thanks, Mike. I really appreciate that."  
"If it were only for him I wouldn't bother."

Just as Michael had said, a few moments later three men showed up.  
"Andrea. Good to see you. Are you feeling better?" Director Steward smiled at her and shook her hand.  
"Yes, Sir. Thank you."  
"Can we go in?"  
"Doctor's in at the moment, Sir."  
"How s that prick, anyway?" A guy with an American accent asked.  
"Pretty fit again, if you ask me," Michael explained.  
"Did I miss all the fun?" James' voice came from down the hall just when the door opened and the doctor came out followed by the nurse.  
"What is this here?" He looked annoyed from face to face.  
"MI6 investigation." Director Steward said. Shaking his head lightly the doctor quickly disappeared, not wanting to have anything to do with it.  
"Agent Connor and agent Riseborough will stay out here. The rest..." He just gestured his head to the door. Andrea nearly panicked, she wanted to go in as well making sure Tom was okay. But what could she do?  
James went in last winking at Andrea "Everything fine."  
With that he also disappeared in the room closing the door behind himself.

Tom had just closed his eyes, he felt pretty tired after his "activities" with Andrea when the door flew open again. He didn't need to open his eyes to know it wasn't her, so he just pretended to be sleeping until a stern voice said his name.  
"Mr. Hiddleston!" In addition someone put a hand onto his shoulder and shook him lightly.   
Sleepy he blinked his eyes and looked in the faces of four man. Two of them had been in his guarding team: James and Michael. Then there was a bold one. He almost had to grin when he thought about the videos and pictures he had of this man going in and out of his brothel. The esteemed Director of the MI6 Patrick Steward.  
The only guy he didn't know was the fourth. He had an ice-cold look on his face, pretty much like himself when he meant business.  
"We've got some questions, Mr. Hiddleston."  
"What do you want?"  
"Well, as you are quite familiar with the drug scene in this city, we hoped you could help us with something."  
"Drug scene? You're joking?!"  
"Mr. Hiddleston, you don't have to try and fool us, we know that you are involved with del Toro's drug cartel." The guy he didn't know explained in a thick American accent. CIA, surely.  
"Well, he sells the best Tequila you can get. I don't know what else he's dealing with though."  
"According to a source close to del Toro, you pissed him off quite a lot. And he's someone you don't piss off. We're only here to help you."  
Tom couldn't help a disgusted grunt to emerge. "Help me? If he's really a drug lord and I talk to you guys, how could this be helping?"  
"We can protect you."  
He just had to laugh at that. Chris was looking after Andrea who had been followed by some weird guy and they had no idea, so how could they even think about protecting him? They still tried to get the guy to talk and find out who he's working for but so far they didn't have any luck, although he was quite sure he knew the answer. And their appearance here prooved his suspicion.  
"We can guarentee you full immunity if you co-operate."  
Now Michael had enough! How could they do that? "He's a bloody killer, drug dealer and God knows what else and you offer him immunity? How sick is that?"  
"Mike, calm down, mate."  
"He probably killed an agent! We should hang up a sign where he is so the guys who are after him find him easier! Fucking prick!"  
Tom had to oppress a smile at that before asked innocently "Killed an agent? What agent?"  
"For fucks sake! Olsen! Don't pretend you don't know!"  
"Lizzy? You're pulling my leg? She stole some money and pissed off. Well, apparently you don't pay well enough."  
"YOU FUCKING BAS..."  
"Agent Fassbender!" Director Steward interrupted him. "If you can't shut up, you'd better wait outside."  
"I'm out of this shit! Let them kill him! I'd rather issue parking tickets than be around him a minute longer." With that he stormed to the door.  
"Mike?" James wanted to stop him but before he could even try to go after him he was already out of the door.  
Amused Tom watched the whole scene and nearly burst out laughing. Meanwhile Director Steward regained his momentum and continued "Like I said, we can guarentee full immunity, if you co-operate."  
"Well, what for?"  
Slowly Patrick lost his patience "For your crimes."  
"Which crimes? I lead a night club. I can get you an invitation if you want. Normally that's not that easy to get but I'll make an exception."

The little shit knew they didn't have anything against him and used that, he had to give that to him. He knew how to play. He started one last attempt "What about the drugs you wanted to buy from Jackman in that warehouse?"  
"Drugs? Since when is it illegal to buy booze?"  
"Except that isn't what you wanted to buy!"  
"Who says that?"  
"Jackman."  
Tom faked a laugh, internally making a note to deal with that prick on the next occasion. "Well, you apparently didn't find any as otherwise I'd surely be under arrest."  
That took the wind out of his sails and he sighed in resignation.  
"Mr. Hiddleston, we won't be judging you and everything you tell us will stay between us. Plus we are willing to give you a new identity and a new life."  
"Okay then. I tell you something." All of them leaned in a bit staring at him expectantly. "Get lost!"  
Director Steward's and the CIA agent's face turned sour in anger, only James looked sad and worried as his thoughts went to Andy. He could have made it easier for both of them by simply telling them what they wanted to know.   
Tom also saw the look on his face and knew exactly what he was thinking but he would make sure that nothing happened to her, if necessary with his own life.  
"Fine. James, we're going." With that he turned and headed for the door without looking back or even saying good-bye. The other two men followed, only James turned and looked at him again slightly shaking his head in disapproval.

 

Andrea was pacing up and down the hallway wishing she could press her ear to the door and listen in but that would be a bit weird especially as she wasn't alone out there.  
Eventually they heard Michael's outburst and she flinched. What the hell was going on?  
Only seconds later Mike came storming out the door and without stopping he ran down the hallway.  
"Michael? What's going on?" Andy tried but, of course, without success, which didn't make her situation much easier. So once more she began pacing up and down until her colleague had enough.  
"What the fuck is wrong with you? Can't you stand still?"  
Angrily she stared back at him before barking a short "no" at him.

After what seemed like an eternity they finally came back out looking less than pleased. The CIA guy just gestured with his head down the hall and they left.   
With wide eyes she stared at James and Director Steward waiting for an explanation.   
"Andrea, James, we'll end this assignment and leave him on his own. Shall the gangsters get him, I don't care."  
She inhaled deeply in order to protest but James gestured with his hand for her to calm down just in time, so she just asked a quiet "Why?"  
"Well, he isn't willing to co-operate, so that's it. I'll see you two in my office tomorrow morning 9 o'clock. Take the afternoon off. I have a new assignment for you." With that he also left and eventually they were alone.  
"What was going on in there?"  
"He was offered full immunity for all his crimes if he answered our questions and I guess you can imagine the rest."  
"Fuck."  
"Exactly. Stubborn guy, your Tom."  
"I know. But, to be honest, everything else would have surprised me." She rolled her eyes before reaching for the door handle and going in. Raising his eyebrows James followed her only to see that Tom was standing next to the closet and getting dressed.  
"What the hell are you doing?" Andrea almost yelled at him but as usually he wasn't in the least affected by that.  
"I'm going home."  
"No fucking way! Get your ass back into that bed, NOW!"  
"Jesus, sweetheart. What's wrong? I feel good."  
Raging with anger she ripped the shirt he was pulling out of the closet out of his hand and hit him with her hand onto the chest. "You'll stay here until the doctors allow you to go home! Clear?!"  
"Come on, darling. I also can lie around in my bed at home."  
"No arguing." Before he could say anything else she was opening his pants and tugging them back down. "Back to bed! Now!" She shoved him backwards which made him stumble over his pants around his ankles and he fell onto the bed quite harshly. She quickly tugged his pants down the rest of the way leaving him in his boxers.   
Heavily panting she stood back up straight staring angrily at him.   
"Andr..."  
"Shut up! If you don't think about how our future could be better, it's okay. I wouldn't have expected that. But you won't risk your life by simply leaving the hospital early! I won't allow that!" Only now she realised she was crying.  
Swallowing hard Tom slowly slipped his feet back under the sheets of his bed, also tears in his eyes.   
Nodding contently she handed him a fresh t-shirt which he put on without any protest.  
She was shaking like a leaf, luckily James was only a few steps away and quickly went over to stabilise her.

For a while they were completely still until Tom asked in a quiet voice. "What do you mean with I don't think about how our future could be better? Are you angry I didn't co-operate with those guys?"  
"Yes!" She hadn't thought she would be but she really was. Had he told them everything, they surely could be together officially and nobody would have a problem with it.  
"But doing so wouldn't have only risked my life but also yours. Even more so than it is already. And I'm not willing to do that. - If I were a better guy, I would end things between us. But I can't. Although I'd understand it if you had enough of me and left me. It's fine. Really." A part of him expected her to simply nod and leave forever but instead she lay down next to him cupping his face with her hands and kissed him deeply.  
"I'd never leave you. I love you so much, Tom. I just wished things would be easier."  
"Me too."  
"Guys." James interrupted their affectionate kisses. "I don't know if you thought about this but you're no longer under our protection. Maybe it actually would be wise to go home."  
"Don't worry..." Just as Tom started his sentence, there was a knock on the door and Chris came in.  
"Oh, sorry. Am I interrupting anything?"  
"Chris? What are you doing here?" Andrea jumped up and hugged the tall Australian.  
"Well, I was told you guys needed a lift home."  
Angrily she stared at Tom over her shoulder.   
"Plan's changed. I have to stay here." Pausing he looked over at James. "Have you brought what I asked you to?"  
"Sure." Chris placed a heavy looking suitcase onto the edge of the bed.  
"What's that?" Andrea asked slightly confused.  
Again Tom looked over at James before mumbling "Self defence."   
She didn't need explaining to know what that meant. "James, you're not hearing any of this!"  
"I'll just wait outside then."

She waited until the door was closed behind him when she started to yell "You're bringing your gun to the hospital? Are you nuts? If someone sees it?"  
"Nobody will. And by the way Chris already caught one of them."  
"What? When did that happen?"  
"The guy was following you, so Chris...invited him back to one of our lovely warehouses."  
"WHAT? Did you kill him?"  
"Not yet, Andrea. Need him to talk first." Chris explained.  
"So you're torturing him? Besides, how did you know he was following me?"  
"Listen, sweetheart. You don't need to know any details. And I asked Chris to keep an eye on you."  
"You did what? You know, I can look after myself."  
"Yes, of course, darling. But still I sleep better knowing you're save."  
"Same way with you. And now I'm here inofficially I can't stay here overnight any longer."  
"I'll be fine." He knew they would try to get a hold of Andrea (that was why he meanwhile had employed three guys to watch over her) to get to him, that much Chris had found out, unfortunately that was it, but he definitely wouldn't tell her.

They talked about business for a while and it seemed like Damian was quite successful following in Tom's foot steps. Eventually Chris left and so did James.   
When they were alone again Andrea lay down next to him and they just stared in each others eyes for a bit until she felt something poking at her thigh.  
"Sorry about that." He apologised sheepishly.  
"Oh, don't." Teasingly she ran her fingertips over his growing erection.  
Moaning he gripped her wrist and tugged her hand away. "No teasing. You know what happens if you tease me."  
"I don't quite remember. Maybe you could help my memories a bit."  
Raising an eyebrow he looked at her questioningly but she just shrugged her shoulders, so he brought his hand down onto her butt roughly and before she knew it he was on his feet. Quickly running around the bed he grabbed her hips and tugged her to the side, so her legs were on the floor and she was lying on the bed, face down. Eagerly he tugged down her jeans and without any warning entered her in one swift thrust. Luckily his chest didn't make any trouble this time.   
"Fuck, Tom!" She moaned while he slowly pulled out and rammed back in.   
Soon they both were moaning rather loudly but just couldn't help it. When Tom's fingers eventually found her clit she exploded immediately which in turn triggered his own orgasm. After shooting his seed into her he nearly collapsed in exhaustion which she, of course realised and gently grabbed him and put him to bed.  
"That was great." He smiled at her with sleepy eyes.  
"Absolutely. And now sleep."  
It didn't take long and he was out, snoring lightly as he usually did. With a satisfied grin on her face she just sat there and watched him sleeping until the door opened and a nurse came in.  
"Im afraid you have to go now." She whispered as quietly as possible while putting an infusion into Tom's arm.  
"I don't want to. Can't I stay here overnight."  
"No. And if the chief physician sees you, you won't be allowed in here at all anymore. Actually you're lucky he was in a meeting during your repeated 'activities' earlier."  
"Fuck! Have we been that loud?"  
"Well, the entire floor heard you." The nurse smiled stupidly at her.  
Sighing Andrea got up, kissed Tom's lips tenderly and slowly left whispering "I love you."


	22. Shock

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some heavy stuff coming up

Andrea pulled into her underground car park with her BMW. All the way from the hospital she had had the feeling someone was following her, however, she didn't see anything. Shrugging it off she took the elevator to her floor. She hadn't slept in her own bed for quite some time and actually had no idea if she could.  
As she walked down the hall to her flat her thoughts spun around the events of the day. Was she really in danger? And if so, she was sure Tom would have her protected.  
"Hi, there."  
She nearly jumped out of her skin. Looking towards the source of her startlement she saw a rather tall, blonde-haired man. Carrying a box from the hallway into the flat two doors down and on the oposing side of hers.  
"Sorry, didn't want to startle you. I'm Charlie." He put the box down and came over to her. Out of some instinct her hand automatically went to her weapon.   
"I almost thought I'll be living next to loads of old people." He gestured around to the other flats with raised eyebrows which made her smile. She liked that guy and didn't think he was any danger, so she finally relaxed and reached for his outsretched hand.  
"I'm Andrea. I live right there." She pointed to her door. "Didn't know Mrs. Carlille moved out."  
"Well, I've heard she died."  
"What? When?"  
"No idea."  
It was realistic she had missed that, after all she had barely spent time at home recently.  
"Then welcome to the neighbourhood. Do you need help with those?" She gestured to another four boxes standing about in the hallway.  
"No, thanks. Are you up for a drink maybe?"  
"Ahm, sure. But I've got a boyfriend. Just so you know."  
"We still could be friends, right? Or is he one of those super jealous guys?"  
"He's quite jealous, I guess. But we don't have to tell him." She joked.

They sat in his packed living room until 11.30 pm talking about loads of stuff and it turned out that Charlie worked for a security company and was trained in the usage of weapons, so they geeked about that for a while. She, however, just told him she was a cop, nothing more specific.  
When she eventually lay in her bed she was out almost immediately.

 

James had picked her up from her flat about an hour ago and after they had breakfast, they headed to the headquarters, although Andrea would have rather gone to Tom. On their way in she tried to call him but to her misery there was no answer.   
By the time they arrived on their floor she was worried sick about him. When finally her phone rang. With a grin on her face she excused herself to the toilet, which caused James to roll his eyes.  
Once in the ladies' toilets she quickly checked if she was alone and then picked up.  
"Hi, sweety. Did you sleep well?"  
"After that lovely fuck? Surely. I was actually just thinking I could use another one."  
"So that's why you're calling?" She faked being shocked.  
"That, and I wanted to tell you something."  
"And what would that be?"  
"I love you. And I miss you. When I woke up you were gone. Why didn't you stay?"  
"Well, the nurse told me if that stupid doctor finds me with you, he'll kick me out permanently. Plus, he would have already if he had heard our 'activities', as she called it."  
"Hmm? Maybe I can use this to get him to kick me out of here somehow?"  
"Thomas William Hiddleston! Don't you dare!"  
"Yes, mistress. But I'm really sick of this."  
"Has he said how long you'll have to stay in hospital?"  
"At least two more weeks. But I won't survive that without you."  
"I have to go and see my boss and after that I hope I can get out of here but I don't know yet." Right on cue James knocked on the door.  
"Director Steward's waiting. Get going, Andy."  
"Just tell him I've got my periods or something."  
"Do you?" Tom asked from her phone.  
"No. Don't you remember last night?"  
"All to vividly. Which is causing me some... hard... problem, if you know what I mean."  
"Oh, shut up! I've got to go, Tom. I'll ring you after the meeting."  
"Fine. Love you."  
"I love you, too." With that she hung up sighing.

 

The meeting took longer than she thought and she was slowly getting nervous as their new assignment meant she couldn't go and see Tom all too often.  
They were set on a group which was suspected to plan a terror attack.   
Along with James there were three other agents involved in this and it would take quite a lot of her time. But as they set up their shifts she had an idea and quickly volunteered for the night shift, so she could go tho the hospital in the morning and see Tom. Perfect.

It worked well the first few days but usually she'd fall asleep in Tom's arms in the early afternoon which didn't bother either of them. Then they changed shifts and she had to work during the day. As often as possible they called or texted each other and it also went well, till one morning.

 

She had started an hour ago and everything was quiet, so she got out her phone while James was making coffee in their observation flat's kitchen.  
Grinning she opened the picture Tom had sent her the night before. She had just gotten home around 8 pm when she had received his message simply saying "I miss you."  
With a smile on her face she had scrolled down to the pic and at first had no idea what she was staring at until it struck her like lightning as she put her head to the side: she was staring at a pic of his hard dick!  
She had called him immediately and after a short discussion they had phone sex for the first time.

"What's that?"  
She nearly dropped her phone when James suddenly appeared right next to her.  
"Nothing." Luckily he didn't press her, only handed her a cup of coffee. "Thanks."  
"Missing your Tom?"  
"That obvious?" She asked surprised.  
"Well, young love, I suppose."  
Right then a lorry stopped in front of the warehouse they were observing and immediately they got there equipment to listen to what was spoken as well as an infrared camera and other ones.  
The suspects were just unloading some boxes when her phone went off. Tom.  
Cursing she looked over at James who just shook his head, so - as hard as it was for her - she ignored it. But only a few seconds after it had stopped ringing it went off again.  
She quickly grabbed and answered it with "Can't talk now, I'll call asap."  
She just wanted to put it away when she heard his desperate and tear muffled voice. "Andrea, please."  
But before she could do or say anything James had ripped it from her hand and turned it off...

 

After he had wanked off to her voice and moans on the phone he had quickly fallen asleep. He missed her thouroghly as he hadn't seen her in several days. His men had caught another guy, to be exact: Charlie, her "new neighbour", had caught the guy in the middle of the night sneaking up to her flat. But like with the first one they didn't get him to talk.

In the middle of the night he had woken due to another nightmare and just by thinking of the content of his dream he had felt actual physical pain. At around three o'clock the nurse from the night shift came by to check on him.  
"Can't sleep? Again?"  
He just shrugged with his shoulders as he turned the pages of his book.  
"I'll get you something."  
"No, I'm fine."  
"Missing your girl?"  
"Yeah. Probably."  
They talked for a bit and she actually convinced him to take some pills. Nothing too heavy, just some homeopathic pills to help him sleep. But as he had predicted it didn't help in the least.  
By the time the sun slowly came up he finally fell back into a deep and - luckily - dreamless sleep.

When he slowly woke a light smile spread on his face. Someone was holding his left hand and gently stroking over its back. Andrea. She had managed to come by.  
But then he opened his eyes and it felt like was seeing a ghost.   
"What the fuck are you doing here?!" He ripped his hand from her grip and tried to get away as far as possible from her. As result he first knocked his gun, which was lying in bed next to him, onto the floor and then nearly fell out of the bed himself.  
"You're still my son and when I heard you were here I came here. You're looking good by the way."  
For a moment he didn't know what to say until rage took him. "GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!" Not really thinking about what he was doing he quickly got out of bed and bend down to pick up his gun, which caused a nearly unbearable pain in his chest, but he was so angry.   
"Please, let's just ta..."  
Eventually he got a hold of his weapon and pointed it at her.  
"FUCK OFF!"  
"Thomas?! I just want to talk." She made a calming gesture with her hands.  
He felt tears starting to run down his face and the feelings of lonelyness and isolation from his childhood crawl back over him, all the pain of being completely alone, abondend and helpless, no-one to help him.  
His hands started shaking, as did his feet and a moment later he was collapsing onto the floor. The gun had fallen down earlier already and was now lying under the bed. Crying like a baby he curled up into a ball.  
"Thomas?" She had come around to his side crouching down next to him and reaching for him in order to soothe him.  
"Don't you... fucking... touch me!" He managed to get out.   
She leaned back and watched him when he wanted nothing more than her to leave. Luckily a nurse had obviously heard him screaming earlier.   
"What's going on in here?" She came into sight and when she saw Tom down on the floor, a shocked expression spread over her face. "Jesus. Is everything alright, Tom? Should I get the doctor?"  
"I... want her... t... to leave." Nothing more than a whisper but apparently it had been loud enough.  
"Ma'am?"  
She slowly got back upright starting to explain "I'm his mother. I just want to talk to him."  
"Well, he obviously doesn't. So please, go. Or I'll have to call security."  
He heard her sighing "Okay. I'll leave my number. Please, Thomas. I'm so sorry for everything."  
He had his face buried in his right armpit and didn't look up. Why couldn't this nightmare end?

Eventually she was gone and the nurse came over to him gently touching his arm. "She's gone. Everything okay. Shhhh." She took his arm and sat him up. "Can you stand up?"  
He just nodded and hoped he could. Putting his arm around her shoulder she helped him up and put him back to bed. She pulled the blanket over him and whispered "Be right back. I'll just get the doctor."  
For a moment he lay there in stupor his tears slowly drying then he knew what - or better who - he needed. So he grabbed his phone and called Andrea. He knew she was on an assignment, something with terrorists she had said, but she just needed to have time for him.   
It rang and rang and eventually there was just the voice mail. Fuck. He tried again and after three rings she finally picked up.  
"Can't talk now, I'll call asap." She answered in a rushed voice.   
Somehow he managed to press out "Andrea please. - I need you." But as he had finished she had already hung up again.   
He tried again and again, however, she seemed to have turned off her phone. The feeling of complete loneliness washed over him again and more tears welled up in his eyes. Nobody cared for him. Nobody.  
But was that true? A female voice with a thick Mexican accent came to his mind saying "You're like a brother to me. I'll always be there for you."  
Briefly nodding to himself he dialed his office number where Salma had taken over the lead (at least concerning the club). After the second ring she picked up.  
"Hola, mi amor. ¿Cómo estas?"  
"Salma, please... could you come over."  
The sound of his voice told her everything "Be right there, mi amor."  
Even before he could thank her she had hung up and was on her way.

A few moments later the nurse showed up again with a doctor, one he hadn't seen before. But he couldn't care less, it felt like he was miles away. There was a sharp pain as the doctor gave him an injection to calm down and sleep for a while and before long he was alone again.  
Once more he tried Andrea's phone but still with the same result.  
Slowly the medicine seemed to work as he started to feel sleepy. That was when the door opened.  
"¡Hola gringo!"  
He rolled his head towards the firm male voice blinking his eyes. The guy slowly came towards him like a predator, a gun under his jacket and a long knife hanging from his belt.   
However, Tom had no idea who he was, he knew exactly who had sent him despite his hazy state.  
"Come on, I'll take you for a ride." The ugly looking guy grabbed his upper arm and tugged him out of bed. "Your girl is well protected compared to you."  
As he was tugged onto his feet his knees almost buckled which obviously came from the injection earlier. Unfortunately it also made his mind slower.  
"Where are your clothes? We can't leave like this!"  
Automatically Tom looked over to the wardrobe and a moment later the guy let go of his arm and headed over there. That was when Tom had an idea.

His knees buckled and he fell to the floor.  
"¡Oh, dios mio! Don't tell me I have to carry your stupid ass." Rolling his eyes the guy looked back from Tom to the wardrobe. Right then Tom moved as fast as possible rolling to the side and looking for his gun beneath the bed. Had it lain on the other side of the bed it would possibly have been his death sentence but at least that one time he was lucky as it lay only about two feet away. He gripped it tightly and spun around.  
All that happened in only a few seconds but it felt like slow motion for Tom anyway.  
Just as he spun around pointing the gun at del Toro's man, he also turned around saying "What the f...!"  
That was when Tom pulled the trigger, twice. The first shot hit the guys chest and the second one his head.  
Exhausted Tom dropped the weapon and was out.

 

Andrea and James were closely observing what was going on next door, however, Andrea couldn't quite consentrate as she still heard Tom's voice in her head. "Andrea please." It wasn't the words that worried her but his tone. He had sounded really desperate - and not in a positive way.   
Every once in a while she glanced over where her phone was lying on the table. Why did those terrorists have to get a delivery right now? And they didn't understand a damn word they were talking as they spoke in Arabic.  
It felt like ages until they had unloaded all those crates and if they all containt explosives the whole of London would be in ruins. The driver just got back into the lorry when there emergency line rang.  
Immediately she knew something was very wrong, unfortunately James was faster to pick up.   
"Hello? - Patrick?" His brows furrowed and her heart nearly stopped. "When? - Okay. I'll send Andrea. - No. She'll be fine. - Sure."  
Finally he hung up and his eyes met hers, his expression illegible. "Andy, your Tom has shot some guy in the hospital. They're bringing him to the prison section of St. Catherine's. Patrick said one of us should question him. I thought for your sake it would be better if you do that. But please, there are security cameras that record everything, so be careful."  
Had that been the reason he had called her? What the hell had happened?  
She nodded briefly, thanked him, got her phone and the keys for her motorcycle and ran off. She turned her phone back on and saw that there were eleven missed calls from Tom but no voice mail or anything.  
She jumped onto her bike and sped off through the streets of London towards the hospital.

After she had parked she practically ran into the building and took the elevator to the top floor where the prison section was. At the security check she pulled out her badge.  
"Andrea Riseborough, MI6. I'm here to question a prisoner."  
On the outside she looked totally calm but on the inside she was basically going crazy.  
"One moment, Miss." He pressed a button on his phone and a few moments later an all too familiar face appeared and opened the door for her.  
"Andrea."  
"Hi, Michael. What's going on?"  
"I somehow knew you would show up. If James wasn't one of my best friends I would have you arrested." He made sure nobody else was hearing him.  
"Director Steward sent me."  
"Oh, did he? Does he know that you are fucking with his suspect?"  
"Michael!"  
He slowly led her down the hall into an observation room. There were at least 20 different TV screens, on each one was a room with two to four beds and it didn't take her long to find Tom in the lower right corner. He seemed to be sleeping as he didn't move, only his chest rose and fell slowly.  
"Here! We found this gun with him. He shot this man with it. Do you know him?"  
Andrea saw Tom's gun, the one he had at the shooting range with him, then Mike showed her a picture of a dead man on his phone and she almost threw up; where his left eye had been there was a hole, obviously the result of Tom's shooting skills.  
"No, never seen him. Is he in the system?"  
"I'm still waiting for an answer."  
"Was he armed as well?" Inwardly she prayed that this was the case as the sentence for Tom wouldn't be that bad.  
"Yes, he was." Michael pulled a big plastic bag from beneath the desk. "Two guns, a knife, hand cuffs and injections with sedatives. Looks like he wanted to kidnap Hiddleston."  
She just nodded staring at the monitor showing her sleeping boyfriend. "Did he give him something already?"  
"We don't think so. The hospital had given him something to calm down as he had some sort of a nervous breakdown or whatever. The doctors say he'll be sleeping for at least four hours."  
"Have you talked to the staff at the ward?"  
"Not yet."  
"Then I'll go. Do you want to come?"  
"Sure."  
Nodding she led the way towards the elevators. They got in and just when the door had closed Andrea pressed the stop button.  
"I might be sleeping with him but that's none of your business. As it is no-one else's. So don't treat me like a fucking stupid whore! Got that!"  
"Yeah, sorry. I just can't stand him because of what he did with my undercover."  
"You don't even know what he might have done to her. Maybe she took his money and ran just as he said. Or is it because you feel guilty about her?"  
"Fuck! Of course I feel guilty because I dragged a civilian into this shit! And I know he killed her!"  
"Well, I tell you something: I once asked him and he swore he hadn't killed her."  
"Then he had her killed. What's the difference?"  
"I think he loved her." With that bomb she started the lift again looking into Michael's dumbfounded face.  
"What?"

Ignoring him she waited until they finally reached the right floor and when they exited the lift someone familiar was standing right before it.  
"Andrea! Thank God. Where is Tom? The nurses only said they brought him away? What happened?"  
Michael looked puzzled, well, apart from staring at Salma's large cleavage.  
Andrea pulled the other woman into a hug and whispered into her ear "He shot someone who aparently tried to kidnap him."  
"What? Where is he?"  
"Where he belongs," Michael jumped in "Prison section."  
"That's Michael Fassbender, he works for the Yard. Michael, that's Salma, a very good friend."  
After shaking his hand she tugged Andrea aside. "Do you know what happened this morning?" Confused Andrea stared at her. "He called and begged me to come over. He sounded awful."  
"No idea. He called me as well but I thought it was because he killed that guy. However, I'm not so sure about that anymore. The medical staff aparently said something about a nervous breakdown."

After asking around Andrea first found the doctor who had given Tom the injection and then the nurse who told her about his mum's appearance and also about the shot they heard and that she found both men lying on the floor, one of them dead. Nobody had seen the guy coming or seen if he had been with someone else.

They sat down in a quiet corner worriedly looking at each other and basically ignoring Michael.   
"How did she know he was here? ¡Hija de puta! She can only be happy I wasn't here. No wonder he was so confused and upset."  
"Yes. And I wasn't there for him." Tears started to run down her face.  
"Oh, no, Andrea. He knows you've got your job."  
"Still."

Michael rolled his eyes while the women kept talking when his phone buzzed. He slowly got up and walked over to the windows before he picked up.  
It was Henry from the techniques department and with every word of his, Michael's face grew paler.   
They had taken Tom's phone and after quite some time finally managed to crack it. There was nothing on it they could use to convict Hiddleston for but maybe an agent. He didn't say a name but he, of course, already knew who it was.

After he had hung up he stood in front of the windows staring at nothing and fighting with himself to warn her about what was going to happen.  
"Fuck it!" He turned around and headed for the elevators deciding this wasn't worth risking his career and as far as he was concerned he would say he had known nothing about this.

Just when the elevator doors were about to close a hand gripped one of them and Andrea quickly jumped in.  
"What's wrong Michael? I thought we are friends."  
"Not when it comes to him!"  
"I know he can get under your sk..."  
"Fuck! He killed one of my agents!"  
"I told you, he didn't."  
"And you believe him?! Andrea, use your brain! He's a criminal. A good one, I have to admit, but still a criminal. Currently they're checking if we have unclarified murders where his gun was used and if they find anything he's fucked, so better try to stay away from him."  
"But I..."  
"Love him? I know. My advice, try to ignore it."  
The elevator stopped and they got out heading back in. They went straight to the observation booth where now a box stood on the desk with Tom's clothes.  
On seeing it Andrea immediately rushed over to it unobtrusifly searching for something. But Michael just knew what she was looking for.  
"His phone is with the techniques guys."  
"What?"  
"Sure. He's a murderer. What do you think we'd do with it?"  
"But..."  
"I take it there's stuff on there that might not be too good for you?"  
She ran her fingers through her hair thinking about the selfie he had made of them in his hospital bed the other day. Fuck!

"Oh, great." Michael's voice interrupted her train of thoughts "Sleeping Beauty is up. Finally." Without saying anything else he headed down the hallway while Andrea stood, still in shock, and watched a confused looking Tom before she managed to move and quickly follow Michael.

 

Tom blinked his eyes his head hammering in pain with every heartbeat. He felt like he had a massive hangover. But where the hell was he? What had happened? The window was barred up and the door also looked quite heavy. Was he in prison?  
Slowly his memories came back and he remembered the ugly guy coming into his room to get him.  
With loud clicks the door was opened and Fassbender came in grinning stupidly at him and his heart sank but then another figure came in. Inhaling in relief he was about to tell her how much he'd missed her but knowing what he wanted to say she shook her head lighty and looked up into a corner where a security camera was.  
"You killed a man Hiddleston. Congratulations, you finally booked a room in one of those beautiful prisons."  
"It was self-defence, nothing else."  
"Do you always carry a weapon?"  
"Only when I'm told I'm in danger."  
He didn't ask who had told him obviously as he had been there when Director Steward had done that. "Illegal possesion of a weapon is also a reason fo..."  
"I've got a license for it. And now I want to talk to my lawyer as you have no right to keep me here."  
"We don't? Well, we'll see. Who was that guy anyway?"  
"I have no idea. You tell me. After all you guys told me I was in trouble."

Shaking his head Michael turned and headed for the door shoving Andrea out before him. Over her shoulder she saw Tom staring after her with his best puppy eyes.   
After the door was locked Michael turned to her with an annoyed expression. "Does he really have a license for that gun?"  
"Yes. At least he once told me he did."  
"Fuck!" They both knew that he'd get maybe a fine or probation and that would be it.   
"Agent Riseborough?" Director Stewards voice said right behind her and his tone didn't sound positive at all.  
With a fake smile she turned around and greeted him "Sir? What are you doing here?"  
"Funny, I could ask you the same." He briefly nodded at Michael. "Is there a room where we can talk uninterrupted?"  
Andrea shrugged her shoulders.  
"The lounge, maybe." Michael suggested and pointed down the hall.

So Andrea found herself alone with her boss a few minutes later.  
"Sit down, Andrea." When she had he sat down opposite her, put a briefcase on the table between them and retrieved an envelope and a voice recorder which he turned on.  
"What is this?" From the envelope he pulled a stack of pictures and threw them over towards her. The top one was the most recent selfie she had to think about earlier. Shit!  
"Sir, I..."  
"Can explain that? The oldest picture is from early in your undercover assignment. And I take it that naked woman is also you. You have betrayed us! Conducting a relationship with a criminal, probably passing on insider information about raids and so on. What were you thinking, Andrea? You'll go to prison for that."  
"I just fell in love with him, Sir." Tears were welling up in her eyes.  
"And you didn't think you should inform me about that."  
"I was convinced all accusations were wrong and hoping I could prove that."  
"There's only one way out of this for you, you have to testify against him."  
"But what, Sir. I've never seen him with drugs or anything."   
Shaking his head he looked at her regretfully. "Then, I'm afraid, I have to arrest you."  
"Sir, please!" Now she was full on crying. Was this the end?  
He got up and opened the door where two agents were waiting already. They came in put hand cuffs on her and brought her away.

 

Tom was pacing in his cell / hospital room not sure how this would go down. But he knew the right people, so once his lawyer was here it wouldn't be a problem to get out.  
Again he heard the heavy metal of the door move and he expectantly turned towards it. Surprised he saw Director Steward come in, alone.  
Curiously he watched as the older man nodded at the security camera and knew it was off now. He was holding a brown envelope which he turned nervously in his fingers.  
"Mr. Hiddleston, you surely remember our talk from yesterday and the deal we offered you?"  
Furrowing his brows Tom nodded.  
"Well, that deal doesn't exsist any longer. Today I'm here to offer a new one." With that he held out the envelope to him.   
Tom took it and as he reached inside and pulled out the first picture he fell onto the bed. What was going on here?  
"A few minutes ago we had to arrest Agent Riseborough for corrupting our investigations."  
Tom swallowed, it wasn't fair that she had to pay for being in love with him. His mind was racing two thousand miles a minute thinking on how to get her out of this.  
"The deal is: you admit all your crimes, name us your business partners and everything else we want to know and she'll be free. If you don't co-operate she'll rot in chains. So to speak."  
"You're blackmailing me to tell you where I buy my booze? You still didn't understand that I lead a simple night club? I told you yesterday and I tell you now, fuck off!   
Besides I knew from the start the little bitch was working for you. And just a bit of charm and fake tears, she's head over heals for me. Stupid, little girl. Nice fuck, though.   
I don't care what you do with her. And now get me my lawyer or you'll loose your job and if you make me wait too long you'll loose your wife as well!"  
"You dare to threaten me? Why should I believe you? In those pics it looks like you're in love with that 'little bitch'!"  
Snorting Tom pulls out the picture of her naked body tyed to her bed. "I bet this turned you on quite a lot, Patty!"   
He saw the panic in Steward's eyes as he used the nickname his favorite whore used for the good Director and couldn't help the grin spread over his face.  
"Lilly's really good, isn't she? Best blow job you can get in this town. And she likes it up the ass, although I hear that's more your thing."  
With a crimson head Patrick jumped up, ripped the envelope from Tom's hand, not bothering about the picture of his naked agent, and headed for the door.

How, the fuck, did he know all those things?  
"What happened in there?" Michael asked as he saw the angry looking Director come out of the cell.  
"Let's just say, that prick knows how to push one's buttons. Plus he claims he never loved Andrea."  
Furrowing his brows Michael looked at the door. "That's not true, he..." But before he could finish Patrick was already gone and once more Michael felt anger and rage boiling up inside him. The camera was still off, so he decided to go in and teach that stupid idiot a lesson.  
"What the fuck are you thinking?! They're gonna lock her up for probably about ten years. Only because of you! And you let her down." Michael stood only inches from Tom staring into his eyes angrily but his opponent stayed completely calm.  
"No, they won't. Not as long as I can convince them that I was using her." Tom casually leaned back on his bed looking absolutely happy with himself.  
"But what about her?! She'll think you'd let her down! She's gonna be gutted."  
"Well, then maybe you should pay her a visit."

 

Andrea was crying like a baby all the way from the hospital back to the headquarters. That was it. Not only for her career but also for her and Tom.  
They brought her down to the prison cells and locked her up in one were she lay down on the bed and cried until she had no more tears left. It felt like days till finally someone came to visit her.  
She looked up at James as he slowly stroled in looking concerned down at her.  
"Hi, Andy." She just grunted briefly before she continued to stare at nothing just like she had done before he came in. "I just was questioned about your relationship with Tom." He looked down at her but there was no visible reaction. "Told them I had no idea until the warehouse incident. Which basically is the truth. And they suspended everyone who had been working on the case. Don't know about Michael, though." Still nothing from her. "Patrick is furious. - Andrea, please tell them everything you know, even the smallest detail, and maybe you'll get away with some disciplinay sentence. Don't let that ruin your career." Again she kept staring into thin air. "I see if I can get you help. A good lawyer or anything."  
With that he was gone again leaving her to herselft, however, not for long as about 20 minutes later Director Steward walked in. This time she didn't even look up.  
"Andrea?" His voice was soft, a bit like a father's actually. Totally different from how he had been in the hospital. "He was using you. From the beginning. I should have known. Probably someone in the team gave you away."  
A bit confused she eventually looked up at him. His brows were knitted together and he looked like he was in deep thoughts.  
"What?" She asked in a thin voice.  
"I offered him a deal." He reached inside his jacket, retrieved his phone and played her what he had taped in Tom's cell earlier (minus the last bit, obviously).  
She was taken aback by how full of hate and disgust Tom's voice sounded so she couldn't quite believe it really was him.  
"Is this a trick?"  
"No, Andrea. He used you from the beginning. I shouldn't have gotten you into that."  
Disbelievingly she shook her head. This wasn't true! Tom loved her. For sure.  
"Andrea, tell me everything you know. Please."  
"What I know?"  
"Well, has he told you about his drug deals or anything else illegal."  
Now that she was thinking about it, she noticed he never really had – not in detail anyway – and she always had told him about their investigations. That was when a small voice inside her started to speak and try to convice her that Tom had, in fact, used her.  
"But he hasn't." A hoarse whisper and again she felt tears well up in her eyes.  
"Nothing, Andrea? Not a single thing?"  
She thought about Paris and James' phone call. But if she told him that, James most likely would get in trouble as well and she didn't want that.   
"No, nothing."  
"And what did you talk about with him?"  
"Normal stuff. Music, movies, family and so on."  
"Did you tell him about our investigations?"  
There was no point in lying "Somtimes."  
"Shit, Andrea!" Desperate he ran his hands over his face. What should he do? After all she was the victim in this case.

After a while he had left her alone and she was slowly getting mad as two voices battled inside her one was insisting that Patrick had been right and Tom had only used her and another one that prayed that he really loved her as he always said.  
She didn't sleep that night. At all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter to come


	23. The Great Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the end. But how will it end.

Andrea was desperate. It had been days since they had locked her away and still no sign of Tom. That was why the voice in her, claiming he had really just used her, slowly got louder and louder and finally she really believed it. How could she have been that stupid?  
The investigation against her went on. They even did a lie detector test on her. From Director Steward she learned that they had to let Tom go, on parol, and that he had left the hospital because the normal ward wouldn't take him back.  
During the days she played the tough girl who had been fooled by a criminal but at night she was crying herself to sleep, if she could anyway. 

After about three weeks in a prison cell she was finally released, at least until her trial. She was no longer an agent, so when she sat in a taxi on her way back to her flat, it felt like they had taken everything from her: job, friends, badge, weapon, boyfriend. How should, or maybe better could, she go on? Maybe she should just jump from the rooftop of her apartment building and end everything.

Like on autopilot she paid the driver and went inside. Stepping out of the elevator she sighed as she slowly continued down the hall to her flat. Just when she put her key into the lock Charlie's door opened. Quickly she tried to get in but too late, he had already seen her.  
"Hi, Andrea. Haven't seen you in a bit."  
She just shrugged her shoulder and nearly panicked when he came over towards her.  
"You look bad. Everything alright."  
"No."  
"Do you want to come over and talk about it?"  
"No. Please, just leave me alone."  
He nodded and pulled an envelope out of his jeans. "Read this and when you have, burn it. And careful. Some people have been in your flat. There might be some bugs."  
Furrowing her brows she stared after him as he walked down the hall.

When he had disappeared into the elevator she went inside locking the door behind her. She turned the envelope in her hand but it was blank. WTF?  
With her back against the door she ripped it open. As soon as she saw the handwriting she knew who had send this letter. Him.

  
_My sweet darling_

_I am terribly sorry for putting you through this but it was the only way we could be together. You're probably totally angry at me but please let me explain._   
_They offered me a way out by telling them everything, which, of course, would have resulted in me being in prison probably for the rest of my life, plus some really bad people would have been after me for giving them away. So my and most likely your life as well would have ended pretty soon. Also there would be no way we could be together after that, and I can't live without you. Selfish, I know._   
_The last weeks has been an absolute misery, my sweet love. For you probably even more so. I can't apologise too often for putting you through this._   
_And it hurts me deeply that you've been through all this shit because of me but had there been another way I would have taken it. However, I kept an eye on you and know you've been really tough. I love you so much for that and hope I can make it up to you someday._   
_They still need to believe I was just using you otherwise we're both fucked. So don't call me, at least not from your flat. Go over to Charlie, he'll look after you._   
_Yes, he's working for me. Sorry about that. But I just wanted to make sure you're alright. I'm jealous, ha? Well, I guess you're right about that._   
_I miss you so badly that I can hardly concentrate on anything. In my dreams you're still with me but than someone or something comes and takes you from me and I wake up screaming._   
_I actually suggested to Chris several times to just go over to where they keep you and kill everybody who gets in our way. Not a good idea._   
_I've made plans and as soon as everything is ready I'll come and get you, so please, if you still love me, which I truely hope you do, pack a suitcase with your most important stuff, then bring it over to Charlie, in case they search your place again._   
_By the way they might have hidden some bugs in your flat, so please be careful. Also burn this letter as soon as you've finished reading it._

_I love you from the bottom of my heart and can't wait to hold and kiss you again. (Nevermind making sweet love to you)_

_Love_   
_T._

_P.S. Please don't be too angry at me. Please._

 

Tears were streaming down her face as she read the letter again and again. How could he put her through this and not let her know he was still in love with her?   
She headed to the kitchen where she burned the letter just as he had instructed her. She was angry, of course, but also incredibly happy that she had been wrong and he still loved her.  
Suddenly she felt the need to talk to him, so she ran over to Charlie's. Just when she had knocked she thought how stupid, as she had watched him leave not that long ago. But after a few seconds the door opened.  
"Hi, Andrea. Come in."  
She quickly stepped past him and before she even could ask he handed her a phone. As she took it she saw that Charlie had already dialed the number and when she brought it to her ear she heard his voice. "Andrea, my sweet darling."

*****

Tom's lawyer showed up shortly after Director Steward had left but nobody had called him, so Michael was totally dumbstruck when he showed up. And he knew what he was doing. When he was in the cell talking to Tom, Michael looked him up and got thousands of hits. Looked like Mr. Alistair Petrie was the go-to lawyer for the British upper class.

Tom had known Alistair for a couple of years now and they were good friends, he also was a regular guest in Tom's clubs whereever he had to defend some rich people. Tom filled him in about the situation and afterwards they talked the newest gossip.  
Eventually the lawyer left and Tom soon fell asleep, although not for long as the first nightmare about Andrea haunted him. The rest of the night he rolled from side to side not finding any rest. He just hoped his plan would work.  
Late the next afternoon he was released on parol and thought they'd bring him back downstairs but apparently the nurses and doctors didn't want him there anymore as he was too dangerous. Shrugging he jumped into a cab and went back to the office building.

Once he walked in they all embraced him and were happy to have him back, especially Salma. To his surprise everything seemed to be going great, the turnover was as good as always and Damian's deals were going well.  
Eventually Salma led him to his office and made him sit down.  
"You look exhausted."  
"I kind of am." He inhaled deeply, it almost felt like he had run a marathon but there was something he needed to take care of before he could rest. Grabbing his phone with a safe line he dialed the Superintendent's number.  
"Hi, Mark. It's Tom. - Good. Thanks. Listen, I need a favour." He explained the situation and soon Mark promised to have an eye on Andrea for him.  
Slightly relieved he sank back into his chair.  
"Come on, mi amor, let's get you to bed."  
A bit reluctantly Tom got up and followed her up to his apartment. How good it felt to be back home, there was only one thing missing to make it perfect. Andrea. 

Salma helped him out of his clothes and put him to bed before going back downstairs. However, as soon as he was alone tears started to run because he felt a sting of guilt for leaving Andrea in prison. Maybe he should just get his gun and a couple of men and get her out with force. First he needed to know where she was held, then he needed the plans of the building and then he'd get her.  
After hours of plotting he finally dozed off into a light slumber only to wake up to another nightmare:  
  
_He was a child again, back at boarding school, the lesson was just over and a faceless teacher called him to the front telling him he had to stay for detention. When the last student was gone the teacher locked the door and came over to him, he tried to escape but didn't stand a chance, so he found himself bent over the desk his pants pulled down. The man's huge hand pressed over his mouth to muffle his screams as he entered him. Not a nightmare / memory he hadn't had before, only this time a woman started laughing as he tried to squirm away from his abuser with tears in his eyes and as he turned he saw her. His mum._

That was when he woke up shaking like a leaf and crying. He rolled over to turn on the light but flinched as phantom pain went through him. With the lights on he curled up into a ball and waited for the horrible pictures on his mind to disappear.   
There was some noise coming from the hallway and he flinched curling up even more.   
"You're up, mi a...? Damn, what's wrong?" In an instant she was at his side embrassing him. "Shhhh. You're save. Nobody'll hurt you. Shhhh." She got onto the bed next to him and pulled his head against her chest whilst stroking through his hair.  
About half an hour later Tom slowly relaxed against her, his tears slowly drying.  
"Do you want to talk about it?"  
He just shook his head feeling a cold rush on his back as he even thought about his dream again.   
For a while they lay there and Salma almost dozed off as he asked "Where do you come from at this time anyway?"  
"I was down in the club."  
He rose an eyebrow as only topless women were allowed down there.   
"Don't look at me like that! I'm the boss. I have to make sure everything is alright."  
"Right. By the way, thanks for taking care of everything. I really appreciate it."

The next days Salma slept next to him and the nightmares stopped but only until he dreamed about Andrea for the first time in his own bed.  
  
_There was a huge crowd gathered at the Tower of London, he was standing against a wall wondering what was going on. Then they brought Andrea in chains up onto a stage. A judge read a list with her crimes and then announced the sentence: death through hanging. Only now he saw the gallow up there, where she was slowly led._  
 _He wanted to move, to run over to her and save her but his body didn't obey him. The rope was pulled around her neck and as she fell down struggling to breathe her eyes met his and she mouthed "I hate you!"_

That kept going night after night and there was no stopping it. Eventually he was afraid of falling asleep. The dream was never the same but it always ended in disaster. In one he wanted to pick up Andrea outside the prison and when she saw him she shot him.  
Once more he woke up heavily breathing and shaking like a leaf. His gaze wandered to his clock and it was only 1.30 am. Not wanting to wake Salma he rolled to his side and asked himself again whether he had made the right decision. What if they wouldn't let her out and convict her for treason? He knew from Mark that that was what some of them wanted to do but Director Steward had nearly convinced everybody that she was only the victim of a master criminal.  
In the meanthime he had talked with Guillermo and they had made peace after he had explained that Damian was continuing the business. He even set the two guys free who had been after Andrea.  
But would he go to the police and talk, he and most importantly she wouldn't live much longer and it would be a painful dead, of that he was sure.  
To distract himself he continued making his plans when Andrea was released. Charlie had called in the evening telling him there had been a bunch of agents in her flat, he hadn't seen what they were doing but they had some technical equipment with them. So his plan of sneaking in to see her would be too dangerous as they surely would be close by to watch the building. "But it also meant they'd set her free", he suddenly thought, which made him smile. "Why would they bother otherwise and set up bugs or even cameras in her flat when she wasn't at home?"  
This gave him new hope and he thought about how to contact her and let her know he still loved her. He only hoped she'd still love him as well.

About an hour later he got up quietly and went down the hall to his office. Sitting down he started writing letter after letter.  
By the time he was finished the floor around him was filled with crumpled paper and the first rays of sunlight appeared on the horizon.  
"What are you doing, mi amor?"  
With small eyes he looked up at her "Writing."  
She stroled over towards him and leaned her naked body against his desk grabbing the letter. Silently she read through it while Tom stared out the window wondering if Andrea could see the sunrise as well from her cell.  
"That's really sweet. But what on Earth are you planning?"  
"I won't tell you. The less people know the better. Not hat I don't trust you but if you don't know anything they can't force you to tell them."  
"Lucky girl."  
"I just hope her love hasn't turned into hate by now."  
"Surely not. And now come back to bed." She wiggled her toes against his fabric-covered crotch and he immediately got hard.  
"Salma, please. I love her."  
"I know. It's just sex and I won't tell anyone."  
"No. I'm sorry."  
"Then just let me suck you off."  
Shaking his head he laughed. "No, but thanks for the offer."  
"Fine."  
They headed back to bed where they soon fell asleep again cuddled against each other.

Two days later he got a call from Mark telling him Andrea would be released later that day until the trial in a couple of weeks. He immediately told Charlie to keep his eyes open for her to give her his letter.  
Nervously he paced up and down all day till Charlie finally called and said he just had given her the letter. Now the waiting almost drove him nuts, the insecurity whether she'd still love him. And finally his phone rang again.

 

"Andrea, my sweet darling."  
First there was silence on the other end but then he heard her crying and whispering his name with a tear muffled voice.  
"I'm so sorry for putting you through this. But I swear I'll make it up to you. Even if it takes the rest of my life."  
"Tom...I...love...you."  
Sighing in relief he quickly answered "I love you, too. If only I could come over and see you, kiss you and..., you know."  
That made her laugh "That would be really nice. But why not?"  
"Well, I'm sure they're watching the building."  
"Then I'll come to you."   
"They'd follow you. It won't be long until I'll get you. I promise. But I need you to know, if you come with me, there's no going back. You most likely won't see your family and friends again, so you have to be sure that you want to be with me."  
"Yes, Tom. I love you more than anything."  
"Good. Jesus, I'm getting hard only by hearing your beautiful voice."  
Chuckling she looked at Charlie and then down the hall. "Well, why don't we... You know."  
"You're a bad girl, Andrea."  
"Yes." Winking at Charlie she went down the hall and into his bathroom locking the door behind her. "I'm alone now."  
"Perfect. Run your fingers over your breasts and tease your nipples until they are hard." She moaned softly into the phone as she did what he told her. "Now pinch them for me."  
"Aaah, Tom." She heard him unzip his pants and imagined how his huge cock would spring free craving her attention. Involuntarily she licked her lips. "So hard for me, Tom?"  
"Always." She heard his desperate voice.  
"If only I was with you, I'd wrap my lips around your magnificent cock and suck you dry."  
"Shiiiit!"  
Giggling she asked carefully "Did you just come?"  
"To my shame, yes. But I haven't, you know. Not since our last time together."  
"Really?" That took her by surprise.  
"Yes. Not even wanked off."  
"Oh, Tom. That's really sweet of you, my sweetheart."  
"Enough about that. Open your pants for me, baby, and touch your sweet pussy. Tell me how wet you are for me."  
"Soaking. My undies are through."  
"Push two fingers into your tight, little cunt."  
She did exactly what he told her to do and nearly came on the spot as well. "Fuuuuck, Tom."  
"Pump them in and out. Use your thumb to rub your sweet, little clit."  
"Tooooom!"  
"Faster." His pants also grew faster again and when she imagined how he sat there his long fingers wrapped around his hard cock she came hissing his name.  
She was still breathing quite fast when she heard him grunt "fuck" and knew he had come again.  
When they both had regained their strength they exchanged some more loving words until they hung up after a bit more than an hour.  
That night they both slept well for the first time in weeks.

 

Andrea woke up early the next morning blinking at her alarm clock she rolled to her other side as it was only 6.30 am. But then her doorbell rang. Had it rung before? Was that why she woke up in the first place?  
With a sigh she dragged herself out of the bed and towards the door. She had to grin at the thoughts of the phone call with Tom last night. She couldn't wait to see him again. Fuck her job, her "colleagues", her bosses, everyone. The only thing she wanted was Tom.  
Looking through the peep whole she saw James standing there. Rolling her eyes she briefly thought about what he wanted from her, after all he hadn't even bothered visiting her in the last three weeks. Slowly she opened the door but left the chain on.  
"Morning, Andy. It's just me."  
"What do you want?"  
He looked hurt and she couldn't blame him as her tone was quite hostile but she was just sick of it all, playing the nice girl while everyone talked behind her back.  
"I brought breakfast and thought we could talk like in the old days."  
"Don't bother, James. I'll never be an agent again, no matter how that trial goes down."  
"But we still are friends, aren't we?"  
"Oh, that's why you didn't visit me in that dark shithole of a cell?!" She shut the door without waiting for his response and she actually felt a bit dizzy.  
"I wasn't allowed to. Come on, I even got croissants!"  
She couldn't help but smile at that and slowly opened the door again after releasing the chain.

They sat and had breakfast while talking about all the news. James told her that Michael had been promoted but he didn't know what for or why. But they both had a pretty clear idea why. They laughed about so many old stories until his expression turned serious.  
"Andy, do you really think Tom just used you? Because I have my doubts about this? I mean the way he looked at you at the warehouse..."  
She flinched, did he know there where bugs in her flat and tried to get information out of her or was he here as a friend? Whichever it was she had to be careful.  
"I honestly don't know. I haven't heard from him."  
"Are you still in love with him?"  
"Maybe."  
"Andy, he's a criminal. Don't protect him!"  
"Perhaps I'm not just protecting him." She hissed whilst staring at him. Confused he looked at her and with a roll of her eyes she got a paper and wrote down  
  
_Who told me about the raid when I was in Paris with him?_

His eyebrows shot up and he just nodded. That's when she knew he was there to spy on her, otherwise he would have answered aloud.  
"Well, thanks for the breakfast but you'd better go now."  
"I've got nothing to do. I'm still suspended."  
"And why are you showing up that early in the morning then? - It's okay. You're a good agent."  
"So are you."  
"No. I fall in love with suspects and leak information to them only because they fuck me like nobody has before." She couldn't help that coming out.  
"Andy!"  
"What? That's what he did. He's really good in bed and has a huge..."  
"Yeah, you're probably right. I should go." He nearly jumped onto his feet and headed to the door. She slowly followed him and saw him out.  
"Greet Director Steward."  
"I wi..." He looked caught as she slammed the door into his face. Bastard, and that's what's called friend.

She headed back to her bedroom where her eyes landed on the top of her wardrobe. Getting a chair she got up there and under one of her bags was a bug and even a small camera. She had stripped in there last night!  
Furiously she disconnected the cables and threw the stuff in her dustbin. After that she searched the rest of her flat and found three more bugs and two more cameras, and surely that wasn't everything but she didn't bother.  
Only in her bedroom and bathroom she searched every last corner and found another bug in the lamp of her bathroom. In her bedroom there were two more, one behind a picture of her family and another one underneath her bed, plus a tiny camera hidden in the lamp.  
Once all of this was disconnected she put it in a bucket and poured water over it.   
Sighing she fell onto her bed and wanted to go back to sleep but remembered the letter. She had to pack! And as far as she was concerned the day Tom came to take her away couldn't come soon enough.

To her misery almost a week passed and nothing happened. One day some agents showed up on her door step and she threw their equipment at them asking if they had enjoyed the show. She had also told Tom about it and he had been furious.  
Usually she spent the evenings at Charlie's and talked to Tom who assured her it wouldn't take long.  
Eventually she received a letter saying her trial would start in about a week. She felt gutted what if Tom wouldn't make it by then? In addition she didn't feel well lately. Often she was dizzy when getting up or even felt sick. Must be the stress she thought.

Two days before her trial would start she woke due to someone ringing her doorbell over and over again. Maybe they were there to get her and put her back to her cell. Slowly she tabbed down the hallway cursing at whoever it was.  
To her surprise it was Charlie. Curiously she looked at him.  
"What you're not ready for our bike tour?" He spoke loud and clear making sure he was heard by any remaining bugs.  
"Ahm, what?"  
"You forgot?! You must be kidding!"  
It slowly dawned on her that this would be more than a bike tour, so she played along.  
"Oh, shit! That was today?"  
"Yap!"  
"Give me five minutes." She let him in and ran back to her room putting on her leather pants and jacket.   
About ten minutes later they entered the lift both dressed in their biking gear but Charlie didn't press the button for the underground carpark, instead he pressed the button for the second floor. As soon as they reached the floor and the doors opened he pushed her outside and two people in the exact same biking clothes entered and continued down.  
"Seriously?" Andrea lifted an eyebrow.  
"Yeah, they'll follow them and we can go unbothered." They waited in the staircase where she had gotten out of her leather stuff and into a navy blue summer dress Charlie had given her. Eventually his phone rang which basically meant they were okay. They took the lift downstairs and went over to a delivery van. He opened the back door for her and they got in. Her suitcase was also in there. Her heart was racing in excitement. Now it wouldn't be long and she'd see her Tom again!  
In the back of the van were no windows whatsoever so she had no idea where they were going but it didn't matter as she knew who would wait for her at the end of the journey.

*****

Michael and his new colleague Rebecca sat in their car outside Andrea's flat and listened intendly to those plans. They had done research on that Charlie and hadn't found anything which in itself was suspicious enough for Michael, especially as Andrea would spend most of her evenings with him.  
Eventually the two bikes came out of the underground carpark and they followed them. They were going south out of town.  
Weirdly their colleagues following Hiddleston had also reported about an hour ago that he was heading south with his Jag. Right then his phone rang "Mike, this is Ewan. Hiddleston just pulled into the driveway of a huge house near Brighton. There are huge hedges around the area, so we can't see much."  
"Find out who owns it. I think our lovebirds will meat there." He hung up and had a complacent smile on his face. That was it for them, checkmate!

And as he had thought about an hour later the two motorbikes pulled into the same driveway.  
They quickly called for support and organised a warrant for the property, owned by a industrialist, which excepionally didn't take too long.   
With their drawn guns they headed to the entrance...

*****

Nervously Andrea wagged her feet until finally the van came to a stop and the door was opened. At first the sun was too bright and she couldn't see a thing but when she squeezed her eyes closed she saw him standing there with this huge boyish smile on his face.  
She jumped up and ran to him nearly knocking him over. They hugged tightly and kissed passionately.  
"My Andrea! I've missed you soooo much."  
"I've missed you, too."  
They kissed again with their tongues fighting for control until a deep voice interrupted them.  
"Everything ready. Time to go." Chris familiar Australian brogue announced.  
Tom pulled away from her. "Perfect." Then he looked deep in her eyes. "Are you sure you want that? Leave your family and friends behind?"  
"Yes, Tom. I want to be with you."  
"Great. Then come." He held his hand towards her and with a grin she grabbed it. He led her over to a private jet and helped her in. They were welcomed by the crew and sat down on two leather chairs in the back corner. Chris' whole family was there as well and Charlie came in after them. The door was closed and before long the plane started rolling.  
"Where are we going, sweetheart?"  
"That's a surprise."

*****

I lie in my hammock on our wooden porch and watch my beautiful wife as she's laughing in the waves of the ocean. Eversince we came here we've been so happy. Happier than I ever thought I could be.  
Guillermo helped me to buy that lovely, little island in the Carribean and we love it. An island full of friends and family.

After we had taken off I took Andrea to the little bedroom in the back of the plane where we made love nearly the entire time until we landed about ten hours later (with a nap or two inbetween).  
We just lay there looking in each other's eyes still panting and sweating from our last orgasm and out of the blue she said "I think I'm pregnant."  
Totally dumbstruck I stared at her "How do you know so fast?" Which, of course, made her giggle.  
It obviously had already happened back at the hospital. I was so happy, I had that stupid grin on my face for days.  
We landed in Nassau then took another smaller plane to our little island. Once we touched down and got out I dropped to my knee and asked her if she'd be mine for the rest of our lives and, well, she said yes. Thank God. Otherwise the priest, flowers, dress, etc. would have been a bit weird. We both were crying nearly the entire time.  
After our little wedding on the beach I brought her to our new home and she loved it. I even carried her over the threshold, as you do. We were totally exhausted and even more so after doing it in nearly every room of our new home.

 

"Daddy, daddy."  
"What's up Jessy?" My sweet, little girl is standing next to me with her cute, little hands outsretched. She's totally my girl, curly blonde hair and blue eyes. So gorgeous.  
"I need a hug."  
Smiling like a fool I roll out of the hammock and lift her off the ground. She lets out those cute squeals while I kiss her cheek. She'll be two in a couple of weeks and she's our little angel, our everything. Maybe we'll tell her one day how we met and made our great escape to this paradise here. We'll see.  
"Daddy, will uncle Guillermo come to my birthday party?"  
"I don't know. Do you want him to come?"  
"Yes. He's sooo funny. - And his belly is bigger than mummy's."  
"Only that your mummy's is gonna be gone once your brother or sister is here."  
"What are you guys talking about?" My perfect wife is coming towards us, all wet and sexy.  
"About your big belly." She smiles at us both and kisses first Jessica then me. Damn, I love how her breasts grow when she's pregnant. Carefully I set Jessica down on the ground as I feel myself getting hard.  
Andrea, of course, notices what's going on and quickly grabs her little hand. “Time for a nap, sweety.”  
“NO! I don't want to.” Under protest she brings her to bed while I slowly walk over to our kitchen and get some lemonade before heading back out onto the porch. It doesn't take long and my gorgeous wife joins me, her body still slightly wet from her dip in the ocean.  
“You look absolutely beautiful.”  
“Is that why you're hard?”  
Teasingly she runs her fingers over my growing errection.  
“I'm always hard when you walk about half naked. You should know that by now.”  
“Like the time you fucked me right on that beach and made that little thing inside me?” With a raised eyebrow she points at her belly. Only six more weeks and we'll have another family member.  
“Oh, yes!” I grin at her.  
“I still found sand in all sorts of places a week later!”  
“Well, there's no sand here on the portch,” I suggest.  
“True.” With a fat grin she opens her bikini top and it falls down onto the dark wood. Her nipples are already hard, ready for my eager mouth. I suck at them for a while before pulling down her panties and eventually my shorts. Our lips meet and our tongues dance with passion for a while until I can't stand it any longer.  
I quickly get up and bend her over before I carefully enter her tight, wet tunnel, after all I don't want to hurt our child, even when the doctor said that's not very likely.  
I don't know if I deserve all of this but there's one thing I know for sure:  
I'm in heaven.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was the last chapter. Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed it.


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